Ralph Fiennes performs Iron Maiden’s 'The Number of the Beast' in The Bone Temple

Ralph Fiennes performs to Iron Maiden's 'The Number of the Beast' in a standout scene from 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, in which he plays Dr. Kelson. In the sequence Kelson lip syncs to convince members of the cult known as the Jimmys that he is Old Nick, or Satan, performing against a memorial made of human bones while blasting heavy metal, wearing leather and using fire.

He also uses a powder from his medicine cabinet to drug the Jimmys; the film signals his music tastes earlier by showing that he kept a record collection and still grooved to Duran Duran. Director Nia DaCosta hired choreographer Shelley Maxwell, who drew on Butoh and the Maori haka to shape movements that would read as both inward and outwardly threatening.

A fire performer, Otto Nicola Giacona, stepped in for parts of the sequence where Kelson wields a flaming contraption, and Fiennes himself threw a torch to ignite a ring of fire. Special effects teams built a trench for the fire that was covered with grass and sod for other shots, and the fire department hosed down the set between takes because the bone-temple material was "highly flammable." Maxwell said Fiennes was "150 percent in." Alex Garland's screenplay referenced the specific Iron Maiden track, but DaCosta staged the sequence herself and incorporated Fiennes' belting into the sound mix; she said he repeated the performance many times.

Key Topics

Culture, Ralph Fiennes, Iron Maiden, Nia Dacosta, Shelley Maxwell, Nicola Giacona