2023’s Palme d’Or winningAnatomy of a Fallmay have boastedthe best animal performance of the year, but in 2015, that honor belonged entirely toThe Witch’s very own Black Phillip, even ifreports of his scandalous behavior on setmeans that he may not have been doing much “acting” at all. WithThe Witch,Robert Eggersand studioA24took the horror genre by storm, ushering in adisruptive age of character-led horrorthat kept its newfound fans uttering three words on repeats: “More, more, more!”A24 completely revolutionized the horror genrewith its originality and championship of bold new voices in the medium.
Set in 1630s New England (admittedly,not a great time to be alive),The Witchfollows Thomasin (Anya-Taylor Joyin her film debut) and her family as they struggle for survival after being exiled from their former settlement over somereligious beefthat her father William (Ralph Ineson) had with the chief. Unfortunately for all of them, what follows is a difficult, crop-less season where it becomes clear that William’s fanaticism has ushered his family into an age of muddy misfortune. What makes matters worse is that their children keep on disappearing (don’t you hate it when that happens?), something that William is quick to blame on witchcraft within the woods.
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
Black Phillip Plays a Pivotal Role In ‘The Witch’
Much ofThe Witch’s allure comes from the fact thatyou don’t actually see the monsterin full, nor are you able to directly confirm whether the titular Witch is, in fact, the threat that William thinks she poses, or if he’s just using her as a scapegoat to cover up his own inadequacies. William is a guy who spends most of his time chopping wood with his shirt off in response to his middle-aged masculinity crisis (this guy would be first in line to buy a Jaguar E-Type if he could), so it’s safe to say that he might not be the best fit for starting his own colony. His actions speak to the fact that inThe Witch,the monster takes on many forms, patriarchy, religion, and that damned goat being merely three of them.
Eggers toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat he and the team “were deliberately trying to play Black Phillip down in order to make his importance more surprising,” keeping him just within view in the background of shots, even if the children’s claims that he speaks to them is probably the only red flag that we would need for something that looks so demonic. And “demonic” isn’t limited to his looks, as it turns out that Black Phillip is the vessel fora surprisingly sexy, black-clad Satanto whom Thomasin signs her soul. It’s one of thebest depictions of the Devilever filmed as by the time he reveals himself in all of his infernal glory, we can hardly blame Thomasin for falling prey to his nefarious machinations. Admittedly, “Wouldst though like to live deliciously?” is a better pickup line than“Gimme some sugar, baby”, though readers, unless you find yourselves at a particularly kinky Halloween party, it’s best not to try either.
Black Phillip Was Just As Much of a Menace In Real Life
Black Phillip was portrayed by an enigmatic 210-pound goat by the bloodthirsty name of… Charlie. That’s a bit too cute of a name for an incarnation of Lucifer, but what he lacked in intimidating titles, he made up for with his anarchic spirit.Animals play a significant role in the films of Robert Eggers, which is why they chose the goat with the biggest horns (trainerAnna Kilchremarked that “Goats just don’t grow bigger horns than that”) andthe most righteously sinister beard he could find. Unfortunately, it looks like all of that cosmetic work quickly went to Charlie’s head, with Eggers recalling that “If we wanted him to be doing something violent, he wanted to go to sleep. If he was supposed to be standing still, he was running around like a madman.”
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This goat could giveKlaus Kinskia run for his money, a man whose on-set antics saw him shooting a poor extra’s fingers off. Seemingly hellbent on leaving a controversial legacy in his wake, much of Charlie’s difficult behavior, unfortunately, led to several unsalvageable scenes that had to be cut from the script since Charlie, probably flexing his star power and desire for creative control, was simply unwilling to do them. At some point, the production had several (presumably terrifying) puppets flown in that were dropped for their lack of realism. Eggers praised editorLouise Fordfor managing to chop Charlie’s footage into a unique and unsettling performance, but it sounds like even some ofthe greatest film editors of all timewould have walked away from this nigh-impossible task.
No disrespect to Ralph Ineson, whose interview demeanor makes him seem like a nice man even ifhis filmography doesn’t(the man’s played every evil role from Dark Wizards to Green Knights toAsmodeus himself), but it’s hard to tell whether or not Charlie really had it out for him or if he was just staying in character when the cameras stopped rolling.Ineson had dropped 30 pounds for the role(and indeed, the man looks malnourished)which meant that Charlie weighed 50 pounds more, making it incredibly difficult for the human actor during several takes that saw him wrestling the hooved beast.It was only the fourth day of filming when Charlie lodged his horns into Ineson’s ribs, dislodging one of his tendons and ensuring that he “spent the rest of the five-week shoot on painkillers.” Ineson toldThe Hollywood Reporter, “He was horrible. Really, really horrible. From the moment we set eyes on each it was just kind of hate at first sight. He had two modes: chilling out and doing nothing, or attacking me.”
Ineson clearly harbors some trauma, but he eventually got his spiritual revenge on all of goatkind. On his wife’s birthday, along with Eggers himself, they went to a restaurant in London called The Smoking Goat, feasting on an “incredible goat dish,” through which they remembered Charlie — “Not so fondly.” If onlyBette Davis could find a Smoking Crawfordto vent her on-set frustrations through. While Eggers and Ineson may forever refuse to work with Charlie again, that was hardly the end for this screen-savvy buck.Charlie starred againin A24’s ownIt Comes at Night, proving that he’s the ultimate Animal Scream King (probably). An irrefutable rising star, we fans can’t wait to see just where he might end up next. Just hope it’s not in your dreams!
The Witchis available to stream on Max.
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