Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, on 22 December 1962. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after studying painting at Chelsea College of Art. His early stage career included work with the Open Air Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he appeared in productions including King Lear and Love’s Labour’s Lost. In 1995, he received a Tony Award for playing Prince Hamlet on Broadway, in a production directed by Jonathan Kent.

Fiennes reached a vast international audience as Amon Göth, the brutal commandant of the Płaszów camp, in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993). The performance brought him Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for supporting actor, and he won the BAFTA. He subsequently portrayed Charles Van Doren in Robert Redford’s Quiz Show (1994), then played Count László de Almásy in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient (1996). That role earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

His screen work has moved between literary adaptations, thrillers, independent films, and large-scale franchises. In Onegin (1999), which he also produced, he played the emotionally guarded title character from Pushkin’s novel. He later became Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and continuing through the two Deathly Hallows films. His other notable roles include Justin Quayle in The Constant Gardener (2005), a diplomat investigating his wife’s death, and concierge Monsieur Gustave H. in Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

Fiennes has directed three feature films. His debut, Coriolanus (2011), relocates Shakespeare’s Roman tragedy to a contemporary conflict and casts him as Caius Martius Coriolanus. The Invisible Woman (2013) concerns Charles Dickens’s relationship with Ellen Ternan, played by Felicity Jones. In The White Crow (2018), he directed Oleg Ivenko as dancer Rudolf Nureyev and played ballet teacher Alexander Pushkin.

He has remained closely connected to theatre. In 2013, he played the title role in Richard III at London’s Almeida Theatre, later taking the production to the United States. In 2016, he played Antony opposite Sophie Okonedo’s Cleopatra at the National Theatre, in Simon Godwin’s production of Antony and Cleopatra. He also served as an ambassador for UNICEF UK and has supported humanitarian work connected with the organization. Fiennes received the 2019 Stanislavsky Award at the Moscow International Film Festival for his contribution to world cinema. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.