Ralph Fiennes

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Birthday:

22 December 1962, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK

Birth Name:

Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes

Height:

181 cm

Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, England, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer. He is the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus Fiennes, a musician; Sophie Fiennes, a producer; and Joseph Fiennes, an actor. He is of English, Irish, and Scottish origin.A noted Shakespeare interpreter, he first achieved success onstage at the Royal National Theatre. Fiennes first worked on screen in 1990 and then made his film debut in 1992 as Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992), opposite Juliette Binoche. 1993 was his "breakout year". He had a major role in the controversial Peter Greenaway film The Baby of Mâcon (1993), with Julia Ormond, which was poorly received. Later that year he became known internationally for portraying the amoral Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993). For this he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. He did not win, but did win the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for the role, as well as Best Supporting Actor honors from numerous critics groups, including the National Society of Film Critics, and the New York, Chicago, Boston, and London Film Critics associations. His portrayal as Göth also earned him a spot on the American Film Institute's list of Top 50 Film Villains. To look suitable to represent Goeth, Fiennes gained weight, but he managed to shed it afterwards. In 1994, he portrayed American academic Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show (1994). In 1996, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Count Almásy the World War II epic romance, and another Best Picture winner, Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996), in which he starred with Kristin Scott Thomas. He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, as well as two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nominations, one for Best Actor and another shared with the film's ensemble cast.Since then, Fiennes has been in a number of notable films, including Strange Days (1995), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), the animated The Prince of Egypt (1998), István Szabó's Sunshine (1999), Neil Jordan-directed films The End of the Affair (1999) and The Good Thief (2002), Red Dragon (2002), Maid in Manhattan (2002), The Constant Gardener (2005), In Bruges (2008), The Reader (2008), co-starring Kate Winslet, Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar®-winning The Hurt Locker (2008), Clash of the Titans (2010), Mike Newell's screen adaptation of Charles Dickens'Great Expectations (2012), with Helena Bonham Carter and Jeremy Irvine, and Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).He is also known for his roles in major film franchises such as the Harry Potter film series (2005-2011), in which he played the evil Lord Voldemort. His nephew, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin played Tom Riddle, the young Lord Voldemort, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). Ralph also appears in the James Bond series, in which he has played M, starting with the 2012 film Skyfall (2012).In 2011, Fiennes made his directorial debut with his film adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy political thriller Coriolanus (2011), in which he also played the title character, opposite Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave. Fiennes has won a Tony Award for playing Prince Hamlet on Broadway.In 2015, Fiennes played a music producer in Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash (2015), starring opposite Tilda Swinton and Matthias Schoenaerts, and in 2016, Fiennes starred in Joel and Ethan Coen's Hail, Caesar! (2016).Since 1999, Fiennes has served as an ambassador for UNICEF UK. Show less «

It's 'Rafe', actually.

When children were introduced to Lord Voldemort, they looked suitably terrified. Which gave me great gratification.

As an actor, a part of you expects to be looked at. A part of you wants to be looked at. But when I'm playing a part, in my imagined world, ...Show more »

As an actor, a part of you expects to be looked at. A part of you wants to be looked at. But when I'm playing a part, in my imagined world, I feel I'm not me. I may be using bits of me, but I love the sense that I'm being someone else. Show less «

Awards are like applause, and every actor likes to hear applause.

The process of making a film is a mad lottery. Whenever you get the feeling that you're making something special, you have to quickly squash...Show more »

The process of making a film is a mad lottery. Whenever you get the feeling that you're making something special, you have to quickly squash it because you are so often proved wrong. Show less «

[on The Avengers (1998)] I think it's a badge of honor to have a real flop on your resume.

I tried not to play Voldemort over the top, and then I realized there's no other way.

I veer away from trying to understand why I act. I just know I need to do it.

The people I consider successful are so because of how they handle their responsibilities to other people, how they approach the future, peo...Show more »

The people I consider successful are so because of how they handle their responsibilities to other people, how they approach the future, people who have a full sense of the value of their life and what they want to do with it. I call people successful not because they have money or their business is doing well but because, as human beings, they have a fully developed sense of being alive and engaged in a lifetime task of collaboration with other human beings -- their mothers and fathers, their family, their friends, their loved ones, the friends who are dying, the friends who are being born.Success.. is all about being able to extend love to people... not in a big, capital letter sense but in the everyday. Little by little, task by task, gesture by gesture, word by word. Show less «

[on the death of Natasha Richardson] I cannot imagine a world without her wit, her love, her mischief, her great, great talent and her gift ...Show more »

[on the death of Natasha Richardson] I cannot imagine a world without her wit, her love, her mischief, her great, great talent and her gift for living. I loved her very much. She was a supreme friend. I shall miss her deeply. Show less «

[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] I needed an important and big capital city and I didn't want it to be Rome, but any conte...Show more »

[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] I needed an important and big capital city and I didn't want it to be Rome, but any contemporary city. Given this is a modern interpretation of Shakespeare, Rome just wasn't the suitable location because Rome of today is reminiscent of a mighty state like the USA or Russia, and I wanted it to be something different. I've come to realize here in Belgrade that a lot of history is reflected through buildings. This is a capital city with a great history. I have been to Bucharest and Zagreb, but Belgrade has always been the first choice for me. Initially, I was attracted by Belgrade's spirit and later I realized this was an ideal filming location. Show less «

[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] I am lucky to have a great crew from Serbia and the UK, and I've been working on the scri...Show more »

[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] I am lucky to have a great crew from Serbia and the UK, and I've been working on the script with John Logan for almost three and a half years. Show less «

[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] You really do have fantastic actors here in Serbia as well as a long theatre tradition, w...Show more »

[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] You really do have fantastic actors here in Serbia as well as a long theatre tradition, which is probably why it's now even stronger than that of London and I'm really flattered to be filming here. Show less «

My parents were very financially-challenged. All of us children have the memory of being told that there was no money, we have to sell this,...Show more »

My parents were very financially-challenged. All of us children have the memory of being told that there was no money, we have to sell this, there's no presents for Christmas. Of being in the front line of that constant worry; the atmosphere in the home always charged with anxiety. 'What do we do? What do we do?' Show less «

[on directing himself in The Invisible Woman (2013)] I've loved being able to be, as it were, the puppet master of my own performance. I lov...Show more »

[on directing himself in The Invisible Woman (2013)] I've loved being able to be, as it were, the puppet master of my own performance. I love that. But you need people to give you good, constructive, critical feedback. It's crazy. It's very, very hard. I don't know how people do it consistently and do it well - like Orson Welles did, or Laurence Olivier did, Clint Eastwood does. Kevin Costner's done it. There's no question that you've got two often opposing headspaces which you have to balance. Show less «

[on doing full frontal nudity in A Bigger Splash (2015)] I liked [the nudity] because it was in the service of illustrating extreme spontane...Show more »

[on doing full frontal nudity in A Bigger Splash (2015)] I liked [the nudity] because it was in the service of illustrating extreme spontaneity in Harry's character. All my nude scenes are extremely spontaneous and appropriate for the situations in which my character is. My nudity is a function of the film's plot. I knew I'd run around naked, so I had to physically prepare, to tighten the muscles. Show less «

[on A Bigger Splash (2015)] I'd never been asked to play a guy who dances and gets naked and sings karaoke! I don't believe I ever played a ...Show more »

[on A Bigger Splash (2015)] I'd never been asked to play a guy who dances and gets naked and sings karaoke! I don't believe I ever played a part like Harry... It was a very special kind of film. Show less «

When you meet women, don't pretend to be anything that you're not.

I reject the notion that there's a moral entity out there running the universe and judging us. I think there's energy, which is frightening ...Show more »

I reject the notion that there's a moral entity out there running the universe and judging us. I think there's energy, which is frightening and unpredictable. We'll never fully understand it - we're at the mercy of it - and whatever that thing is, that might be God. Show less «

My mother wrote six novels and then another book about a trip to pilgrimage centres in France. She also painted. She was her own thinker; hi...Show more »

My mother wrote six novels and then another book about a trip to pilgrimage centres in France. She also painted. She was her own thinker; highly individual in the way she approached just who you are. For instance, I was at grammar school and there's a reasonable pressure to get good exam results and maybe go to university. My mother would say, "If that's what you want then go for it but don't feel that the system in place is the one that you have to adhere to. Be true to yourself, follow your path and give yourself 100 per cent. Don't dabble." Show less «

I have huge anxiety attacks. I'll wake up early in the morning with my brain anxious about something and I don't even know what it is, just ...Show more »

I have huge anxiety attacks. I'll wake up early in the morning with my brain anxious about something and I don't even know what it is, just a general sense of profound uncertainty. It's from the unconscious, I suppose, fears about existence. A weird twilight panic. We feel we can organise our lives and have an order that we can control but really we can't; it's always paper-thin and underneath there's this lurking chaos. You think, "Fuck! This could come at me at any moment." Show less «

I used to smoke socially and bum cigarettes off people at parties; the number of packets I've bought in my life I could count on both hands....Show more »

I used to smoke socially and bum cigarettes off people at parties; the number of packets I've bought in my life I could count on both hands. Have I smoked marijuana? Yes. I think most people have had a drag on a joint. Show less «

Once in a while I like to watch some silly comedy, usually on airplanes. That movie with Mark Wahlberg and the bear was just excellent. Ted!...Show more »

Once in a while I like to watch some silly comedy, usually on airplanes. That movie with Mark Wahlberg and the bear was just excellent. Ted! I'd love to do something like that. Show less «

Vodka martinis are better stirred, not shaken.

We're all defined by how we relate to each other. One of the best things about acting is that it calls on trust and transparency with a dire...Show more »

We're all defined by how we relate to each other. One of the best things about acting is that it calls on trust and transparency with a director or another actor. I've often felt happiest in ensemble situations because you have to be open. Weirdly, I find it hard in real life. Show less «