
Ben Barnes: Fallen hero Tim wants new start in 'The Institute'
NEW YORK, July 20 (UPI) -- Prince Caspian, Westworld and The Punisher alum Ben Barnes says Tim, the character he plays in the new supernatural drama, The Institute, is a troubled man seeking redemption.
"We meet him at quite a heavy moment in his life. He's looking to kind of press re-start on his life. He used to be a police officer and he's made some decisions which weigh really heavily on him and he feels very shameful about," Barnes, 43, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"He's lost a lot, including a marriage, because of it and I think he's trying to find some peace in his life, and finds himself near this Institute, and something starts to not add up for him about this new community that he finds himself In and, so, he starts snooping and uncovering things and realizing, eventually, the full horror of what's happening."
Based on the book by Stephen King, new episodes of the MGM+ show air Sundays and follow Luke (Freeman), a teen genius, who is kidnapped and awakens at The Institute, a facility full of children who all got there the same way he did, possess unusual abilities and are told they are needed to save the world.
Goodbye front half for you! Don't miss the latest episode of #TheInstitute now streaming on #MGMplus pic.twitter.com/fffwMKhvKW— MGM+ (@mgmplus) July 20, 2025
"Luke is sort of at a crossroads," said newcomer Freeman, the 19-year-old son of British acting royalty Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington.
"He has MIT calling and a future ahead of him, but, also, he has everybody back in Minneapolis and he doesn't want to let anybody down," Freeman said of Luke. "So, I think he's sort of living his best life as a 14-year-old. He's got a brilliant opportunity ahead of him and, I'm sure, in his head, he's thinking it will work itself out."
While they find themselves navigating unusual circumstances, Tim and Luke seem authentic, three-dimensional and easy for viewers to relate to.
"It is probably easier for Tim at the beginning because he's grounded in very real things. It's sort of a quiet beginning for Tim," Barnes said.
"For Joe, to play a character who is sort of snatched up into such a horrific environment, to be so unsettled so fast into the show [is more challenging]," Barnes added.
"But I think you're always going to be rooting for the person who's being treated in an unjust way and rooting for the person who's trying to help that person and support that person, so I think we were helped by the structure of the story in that way."
Barnes went on to say the fact both characters have firm grips on their moral compasses also make them likable.
"They know which way True North is and they know what's right to stand up for and those are the things that they kind of really have in common," Barnes added.
"They can't help but stand up for the things they think are right and I think once you start to sense that in someone, when you're watching a show, you can't help but be on their side."
King is famous for telling stories that are not just entertaining or disturbing, but that also explore important existential issues.
The Institute, for example, takes a deep dive into concepts such as free will, authoritarianism and sacrifices required for a greater good.
"There are lots of scenes where there are questions being asked that are not being answered and I think Stephen King is such a master of allegory -- like using telepathy to signify communication or telekinesis to signify those sort of hidden powers that we all have, even the most vulnerable of us, to kind of be hopeful and to fight against unchecked systems," Barnes said.
Barnes, who has been professionally acting for more than 20 years, was ready to help Freeman if he needed anything, much the way Tim wanted to be there for Luke.
"He's just born to do this," Barnes praised his co-star.
"But [I wanted us] to be able to work through things together and discuss dynamics of the story or if he ever felt uncomfortable about situations, or committing to moments or whatever it might be," Barnes added.
"We became a good source of support for each other, through the course of filming, being the two Brits out there [in Nova Scotia], away from home for those months filming the show together."
The show co-stars Mary-Louise Parker, Robert Joy, Julian Richings and Martin Roach.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


UPI
33 minutes ago
- UPI
Will Forte's 'Coyote vs. Acme' set for release Aug. 28, 2026
Will Forte's "Coyote vs. Acme" is set for theatrical release on Aug. 28, 2026. File Photo by Greg Grudt/UPI | License Photo July 27 (UPI) -- Comic actor Will Forte's movie, Coyote vs. Acme, is set for theatrical release on Aug. 28, 2026. The announcement was made Saturday at San Diego Comic Con. Variety reported that Ketchup Entertainment bought the completed, live-action and animated hybrid film from Warner Bros. Discovery after the studio shelved it, along with Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt as part of a new business strategy and change of management. Deadline noted that Ketchup also recently released another Looney Tunes movie, The Day the Earth Blew Up. "I'm pretty speechless," The Hollywood Reporter quoted Forte as telling the crowd at SDCC. "It blows my mind. You think back to the journey this movie has taken. I had kind of given up hope at a certain point, so this is amazing."


Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Ozzy didn't corrupt America's youth. He exposed the hypocrisy of their elders.
Ozzy Osbourne is dead, and some Christians may believe that the devil ushered him straight to the gates of hell. Few pop culture icons were as important, or as controversial, as Osbourne. The British-born rocker became the avatar of American culture wars more than a half-century ago by attempting to showcase the hypocrisy of modern religion. Osbourne launched his career in the late 1960s. Sensitive to cultural currents, he recognized what was happening not just in music, but also in religion and politics. He used it to build on the image of rock as subversive and countercultural. From the start, Osbourne understood how to bring attention to his art. Calling his band Black Sabbath sent a clear message. He aimed to subvert, not honor, Christianity. He integrated crosses, demonic imagery and symbols of the devil such as bats into his performances to highlight what he saw as the absurdity of organized religion. Osbourne sang lyrics in his first album about a 'figure in black' that directed him, and in another song, he took on the persona of Satan himself: 'My name is Lucifer, please take my hand.' In Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" album, released at the height of the Vietnam War, he sang 'War Pigs,' a song in which Satan laughed and spread his wings as political and military elites led the Western world to the doorstep of the apocalypse. Opinion: How faith becomes a weapon: 'If I can't understand it, it's not Christian' Such allusions to the demonic continued in album after album. Osbourne's career developed parallel to a new understanding of Satan. In the post-World War II era, the devil assumed a more prominent role in American life. Anton LaVey's founding of the Church of Satan in 1966 celebrated Satan as a symbol of rebellion, individualism and secular liberation. In other words, Satan was the opposite of everything anxious Cold War parents wanted to instill in their kids. Artists drew on this revamped Satan in their work. Films like "The Exorcist" (1973) and "The Omen" (1976) brought Satan − and fears of Satan's ability to inhabit human bodies − into the imaginations of millions of people. Osbourne made those themes central to his music. In the 1980s, while Osbourne was still releasing albums, fears of satanic ritual abuse swept across the United States. Christian conservatives fretted that Dungeons & Dragons, Ouija boards and horror films were gateways to demonic influence. High-profile cases like the McMartin preschool trial and the publication of memoirs about escaping satanic ritual abuse fueled widespread panic. Law enforcement agencies conducted seminars on occult crime, therapists uncovered repressed memories of ritual abuse and talk shows amplified claims of underground satanic cults. The panic revealed deep anxieties about child safety, cultural change and the perceived decline of Christian values in American society. Perhaps, parents and religious leaders wondered, was Osbourne driving kids into satanism? Perhaps his music was brainwashing the nation's youth? Conservative Christians − including evangelicals, Catholics and Latter-day Saints − believe in a cosmic battle between angels and demons that directly influences human affairs. They believe that unseen spiritual battles determine real-world outcomes, particularly in culture, politics and morality. Opinion: Kan-Kan Cinema is elevating Indy's cinema culture Many of them also believed they had to protect children from music like Osbourne's. This framework encouraged social conservatives to interpret issues like abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and the de-Christianizing of culture as evidence of demonic influence, necessitating counteraction through prayer, activism and political engagement. Osbourne and the genre of hard rock that he helped to promote contributed to their fears. In their minds, Osbourne was encouraging youth to rebel. And he was. Osbourne's fans understood what the rock star was doing. They loved it. The more angry Osbourne could make their parents, and the more he could rile up moral crusaders, the better. And he agreed. Playing with the devil became a hallmark of his long career. Briggs: Born into Jim Crow, she lived to witness DEI debates From witch hunts in Salem to conspiracy theories driving QAnon, Americans have used Satan to facilitate a politics of fear. They have used him to justify persecution, fuel moral panics, shape political and cultural battles, and assess global crises and war. But there has always been another side to Satan, the one Osbourne captured. His devil wasn't the horned villain of Christian nightmares but a trickster, a rebel, a symbol of freedom from sanctimony. In Osbourne's hands, Satan gave a theatrical middle finger to hypocrisy and lifted up a mirror to a society obsessed with sin, and he laughed. His life reminds us that sometimes, dancing with the devil is really just refusing to march in lockstep with the saints.


UPI
2 hours ago
- UPI
'It: Welcome to Derry' to premiere on HBO, HBO Max in October
Bill Skarsgard's "It: Welcome to Derry" is set to premiere in October. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo July 27 (UPI) -- The It prequel, Welcome to Derry, is to premiere on HBO and HBO Max this October. Bill Skarsgård reprises his role as the supernatural, child-killing clown Pennywise from two It blockbuster films in the show, which takes place in 1960s Maine. The cast of the series also includes Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe and Rudy Mancuso. A second teaser for the show was released on Sunday. You'll love Derry so much, you'll never leave.#ITWelcomeToDerry premieres October 2025 on HBO Max. HBO Max (@hbomax) July 27, 2025