Tim McInnerny Talks Severance: From Blackadder to Bloodbath in a Harrowing Horror-Comedy

When you think of Tim McInnerny, your mind likely drifts to the bumbling, scheming Percy from the legendary Blackadder series. But in 2006, the beloved British actor took a sharp detour into the dark, gory heart of horror-comedy with Severance. And according to McInnerny, the ride was absolutely terrifying.

Speaking exclusively about the film, McInnerny confesses that initial reaction to the script was visceral. “I got sent the script and read it very late at night. And actually the comedy side of it wasn't what grabbed me - I was scared when I read it and couldn't get back to sleep, I had to leave the light on! Sad, really...” That raw fear, he says, is exactly what drew him to the project.

The Horror-Comedy Tightrope: A Bold New Frontier

McInnerny, a veteran of stage and screen, was no stranger to comedy. But Severance required a delicate balance—one that could swing from laugh-out-loud humor to gut-wrenching violence without missing a beat.

“It's always a difficult thing,” he explains, “and I think everyone agrees that, if the comedy is good enough, that'll take care of itself. You don't play the comedy of it, you play the reality of the situation.” His approach was grounded in authenticity, avoiding the temptation to wink at the audience. The film, helmed by director Christopher Smith, deliberately blurs genres. “I don't know what genre it fits into, really,” McInnerny admits. “It's not like Shaun of the Dead. The horror's full on and the comedy's very full-on.”

That tonal whiplash, he believes, forces audiences to stay engaged. “If somebody can laugh out loud and then five minutes later scream, that would be great. But also care about the characters.”

Character Study: Richard – The Bumbling Manager with a Heroic Arc

McInnerny’s character, Richard, is the second-in-command at an international arms dealer. On the surface, he’s the quintessential office manager—awkward, anxious, and desperate to prove himself. But beneath the surface, Smith and McInnerny crafted a character with genuine depth.

“You have to like your character,” McInnerny insists. “Richard's got a lot of problems! One has to assume that to be in the position he's in, second-in-command in this rather serious business, he has to be good at his job. What he's not good at is dealing with people.” The actor found the role’s “journey” irresistible, describing it as “a great journey of self-realisation to almost heroic stature.”

The climax of that journey, without spoilers, is what McInnerny calls an “existential dilemma.” He and Smith discussed the scene exhaustively before the director made a surprising demand. “Chris made me promise that I wouldn't do any work on it, so that when we came to shoot it, we wouldn't come to it with any preconceptions.” The result? Two nights of pure, unscripted terror. “I've never had to do a scene like that. It was fantastic to do.”

The Making of a Horror Icon: Hungarian Forests and Sticky Blood

To capture the isolation and vulnerability of the film’s setting, the production took over a bizarre hotel in the middle of the Hungarian forest. The isolation was so complete that McInnerny describes the experience as “a little bit disturbing,” comparing the hotel to the one in The Shining. The entire cast and crew lived together, breaking the typical Hollywood hierarchy that separates stars from supporting actors and crew.

“I hate the hierarchy of leading actors in one hotel, the rest of the cast in another, the crew somewhere else,” McInnerny says. “It makes such a difference when you're as friendly and relaxed with the crew as the rest of the cast.” That camaraderie is palpable on screen, and McInnerny credits Smith's ego-free leadership for fostering it. “The brilliant thing about Chris Smith is that, apart from being an extremely talented director who really understands the language of film, he also has no ego. He just wants everybody to be as good as they possibly can be.”

The physical toll of horror filmmaking, however, was a shock. “Spending all day or all night running away from people, covered in blood, it's quite exhausting. And of course it's not real blood, it's this sticky, sugar-based thing, which in the middle of the Hungarian forest is like a holiday for mosquitoes!”

Career Pivot: Why a Blackadder Vet Embraced the Dark Side

McInnerny’s take on Severance wasn’t just a random gig—it was a deliberate career move. “I've never done a horror. Certainly actors like me spend their whole time ticking things off—‘Well, I'd like to be in a horror movie, be a cowboy...’ and I always wanted to do a horror movie.”

After decades in comedy, he found the horror genre liberated him. “The genre doesn't actually make a lot of difference to me, as long the character's interesting and has a journey and the acting's a challenge.” His criteria for future roles is simple: “The jobs I don't want to do are the jobs that are easy. When I get up in the morning to go to work, I want to be excited and also a bit scared about whether I'm going to be able to do what I'm required to do that day.”

Those words have echoed through a career that has since included everything from Game of Thrones to Doctor Who. But Severance remains a cult favorite—a brutal, hilarious, and deeply unsettling film that proved a classically trained comedic actor could scream as loudly as he could laugh.

For fans of the genre, McInnerny’s journey from Percy the pathetic to Richard the desperate was a revelation. And for the actor himself, it was a career highlight. “I think the horror side of it attracted me more than the comedy side,” he confesses. “It was one of the most enjoyable jobs I've ever done.”

Severance was released on DVD on January 8, 2007, by Pathe Distribution Ltd, cementing its place as a hidden gem of 2000s British horror.

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