Ralph Fiennes
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 ...Show More
[on doing full frontal nudity in A Bigger Splash (2015)] I liked [the nudity] because it was in the 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. Hide
I reject the notion that there's a moral entity out there running the universe and judging us. I thi 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. Hide
[on A Bigger Splash (2015)] I'd never been asked to play a guy who dances and gets naked and sings k 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. Hide
Once in a while I like to watch some silly comedy, usually on airplanes. That movie with Mark Wahlbe 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. Hide
[on directing himself in The Invisible Woman (2013)] I've loved being able to be, as it were, the pu 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. Hide
[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] I needed an important and big capital city and I 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. Hide
I veer away from trying to understand why I act. I just know I need to do it.
I veer away from trying to understand why I act. I just know I need to do it.
I have huge anxiety attacks. I'll wake up early in the morning with my brain anxious about something 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." Hide
As an actor, a part of you expects to be looked at. A part of you wants to be looked at. But when I' 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. Hide
[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] I am lucky to have a great crew from Serbia and t 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. Hide
Awards are like applause, and every actor likes to hear applause.
Awards are like applause, and every actor likes to hear applause.
When you meet women, don't pretend to be anything that you're not.
When you meet women, don't pretend to be anything that you're not.
I tried not to play Voldemort over the top, and then I realized there's no other way.
I tried not to play Voldemort over the top, and then I realized there's no other way.
It's 'Rafe', actually.
It's 'Rafe', actually.
Vodka martinis are better stirred, not shaken.
Vodka martinis are better stirred, not shaken.
The people I consider successful are so because of how they handle their responsibilities to other p 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. Hide
My mother wrote six novels and then another book about a trip to pilgrimage centres in France. She a 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." Hide
[on filming Coriolanus (2011) in Belgrade, Serbia] You really do have fantastic actors here in Serbi 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. Hide
I used to smoke socially and bum cigarettes off people at parties; the number of packets I've bought 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. Hide
The process of making a film is a mad lottery. Whenever you get the feeling that you're making somet 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. Hide
[on the death of Natasha Richardson] I cannot imagine a world without her wit, her love, her mischie 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. Hide
My parents were very financially-challenged. All of us children have the memory of being told that t 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?' Hide
When children were introduced to Lord Voldemort, they looked suitably terrified. Which gave me great Show more
When children were introduced to Lord Voldemort, they looked suitably terrified. Which gave me great gratification. Hide
We're all defined by how we relate to each other. One of the best things about acting is that it cal 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. Hide
[on The Avengers (1998)] I think it's a badge of honor to have a real flop on your resume.
[on The Avengers (1998)] I think it's a badge of honor to have a real flop on your resume.
Ralph Fiennes's FILMOGRAPHY
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as Actor (126)
as Director (2)
Ralph Fiennes'S roles
