Ralph Fiennes
☼ Born on 22 December 1962, in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
Biography
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
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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.
In the role of actor
Conclave (25/10/2024)
A conflicted Cardinal oversees a hotly contested election of a new Pope in Conclave. After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), dean of the College of Cardinals, prepares to oversee the highly secretive election ritual of the conclave. Several frontrunners emerge to take up the papacy, including the left-wing reformist Cardinal […]
2024 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Live-Action (18/02/2024)
Short films are traditionally an outlet for up-and-coming filmmakers to develop their craft. However, three out of five of the 2024 Oscar-nominated short films feature established stars and filmmakers, including David Oyelowo (Selma), Britney Snow (Pitch Perfect, X), and of course a star-studded Roald Dahl adaptation by Wes Anderson (Asteroid City, The Grand Budapest Hotel). […]
The Menu (17/11/2022)
A fine dining experience turns sinister in The Menu. Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a young woman who joins her new boyfriend Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) on a trip to a coastal island in the Pacific Northwest to dine at the exclusive restaurant Hawthorne, run by esteemed Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). The restaurant only allows […]
The King’s Man (22/12/2021)
The origins of the super-secret spy agency are shown in The King’s Man. Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) is a war veteran and aristocrat, who does not want his son Conrad (Harris Dickinson) to get involved when the actions of a shadowy organization lead to the start of a Great War. However, Conrad soon learns that […]
No Time to Die (29/09/2021)
A retired James Bond is pulled back into action by a new global threat in No Time to Die. James Bond (Daniel Craig) has left MI6 for a life in Italy with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), though a sudden attack by the criminal organization SPECTRE, somehow run from behind bars by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), […]
The Dig (31/01/2021)
A self-taught archeologist is hired by a landowner to excavate large burial mounds in The Dig. Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) is a landowner in 1939 Suffolk, who hires local self-taught excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to take a look at the large burial mounds on her estate in Sutton Hoo. Digging primarily on his own with […]
The Wrath (26/07/2019)
A wealthy Korean family is tormented by a vengeful spirit in The Wrath. The heirs of the family of Madame Shin are being killed off on their wedding way by the vengeful spirit of a woman. Ok-bun is a young beggar, who is married off to Shin’s youngest son, in a last-ditch effort to break […]
Hurt (27/07/2018)
A woman spends Halloween night with her PTSD-suffering husband in Hurt. It is Halloween night in the small town of New Caney, Texas and Rose (Emily Van Raay) is reunited with her husband Tommy (Andrew Creer), who has just returned from the war. After spending some time with Rose’s sister Lily (Stephanie Moran) and her husband Mark […]
The LEGO Batman Movie (22/02/2017)
The LEGO Dark Knight sets out to protect Gotham City from The Joker in The LEGO Batman Movie. After foiling the latest plan by The Joker (Zach Galifianakis), Batman (Will Arnett) is shocked to discover that new commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) wants to de-emphasize Batman’s vigilantism. In addition, Batman is shocked to discover that he […]
Kubo and the Two Strings (23/08/2016)
A boy goes on a quest for his father’s samurai armour in Kubo and the Two Strings. Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a boy who lives with his mother in a small village, where he tells stories to the villagers about his samurai father Hanzo, using magical origami controlled by Kubo’s shamisen. One day Kubo ignores […]
Hail, Caesar! (08/02/2016)
The Coen Brothers play homage to classic Hollywood in the kidnapping comedy Hail, Caesar!. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the head of production at Capital Pictures, who is supervising the production of multiple motion pictures, the highest profile of which being the biblical epic Hail, Caesar! A Story of The Christ. When the film’s star Baird Whitlock […]
Spectre (07/11/2015)
Agent 007 faces his greatest adversary in Spectre. Going against orders from MI6, James Bond (Daniel Craig) tracks down a criminal organization, whose members wear rings with the insignia of an octopus. Bond finds that this organization, known as SPECTRE, is lead by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a presumed dead man from Bond’s past. Bond tracks […]
Blindspot 2014: Schindler's List (27/12/2014)
I’m ending my 2014 Blindspot line-up on a bit of a sombre note, as I finally check out Steven Spielberg‘s Oscar winning Holocaust drama Schindler’s List. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is a Nazi businessman in the Kraków Ghetto of Poland, who hires Jews, including his administrator Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), to work in his factories. […]
The Grand Budapest Hotel (17/03/2014)
Director Wes Anderson returns with this star studded film about a famous European hotel. An author (Tom Wilkinson) recites a story about the time his younger self (Jude Law) visited the, formerly exquisite, Grand Budapest Hotel, in the Republic of Zubrowka, and spoke with its current owner Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) about his history […]
Skyfall (10/11/2012)
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond franchise and with it comes the new film Skyfall. It was a decade ago when the Bond series fell victim to excess, including invisible cars and a heavy use CGI stunts. This resulted in the series to strip back and reboot the Bond franchise as […]
Wrath of the Titans (30/03/2012)
I don’t know where to begin when it comes to Wrath of the Titans. I actually somewhat enjoyed the previous film Clash of the Titans (even though I decided to give it half a point less in my rating). That film still ended up being somewhat watchable, despite being one of the first (of many) victims of […]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part Two (15/07/2011)
A decade of Harry Potter films ends with this very climatic final installment of the series. Since this is the second half of a two-part story, the action picks up pretty quickly and it is definitely the most action-packed film in the entire series. After being absent for Part 1, the action returns to Hogwarts, which […]
The Reader (15/12/2008)
I probably wouldn’t have been that compelled to check out The Reader if it wasn’t for the fact that it had just received four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture (drama). I would have to say that I found it a decent enough film. I don’t know if I would go as far to say […]
In the role of director
The LEGO Batman Movie (22/02/2017)
The LEGO Dark Knight sets out to protect Gotham City from The Joker in The LEGO Batman Movie. After foiling the latest plan by The Joker (Zach Galifianakis), Batman (Will Arnett) is shocked to discover that new commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) wants to de-emphasize Batman’s vigilantism. In addition, Batman is shocked to discover that he […]
Kubo and the Two Strings (23/08/2016)
A boy goes on a quest for his father’s samurai armour in Kubo and the Two Strings. Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a boy who lives with his mother in a small village, where he tells stories to the villagers about his samurai father Hanzo, using magical origami controlled by Kubo’s shamisen. One day Kubo ignores […]
Hail, Caesar! (08/02/2016)
The Coen Brothers play homage to classic Hollywood in the kidnapping comedy Hail, Caesar!. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the head of production at Capital Pictures, who is supervising the production of multiple motion pictures, the highest profile of which being the biblical epic Hail, Caesar! A Story of The Christ. When the film’s star Baird Whitlock […]
Spectre (07/11/2015)
Agent 007 faces his greatest adversary in Spectre. Going against orders from MI6, James Bond (Daniel Craig) tracks down a criminal organization, whose members wear rings with the insignia of an octopus. Bond finds that this organization, known as SPECTRE, is lead by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a presumed dead man from Bond’s past. Bond tracks […]
Blindspot 2014: Schindler's List (27/12/2014)
I’m ending my 2014 Blindspot line-up on a bit of a sombre note, as I finally check out Steven Spielberg‘s Oscar winning Holocaust drama Schindler’s List. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is a Nazi businessman in the Kraków Ghetto of Poland, who hires Jews, including his administrator Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), to work in his factories. […]
The Grand Budapest Hotel (17/03/2014)
Director Wes Anderson returns with this star studded film about a famous European hotel. An author (Tom Wilkinson) recites a story about the time his younger self (Jude Law) visited the, formerly exquisite, Grand Budapest Hotel, in the Republic of Zubrowka, and spoke with its current owner Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) about his history […]