22 Dec 1962
Celebrates his birthday Ralph Fiennes — the star of Schindler's List and The English Patient, and Voldemort from the Harry Potter saga. An English actor whose work includes images associated with Russia. The director who made a film about Rudolf Nureyev.
For some reason, I'm drawn here—to Russia and to the traditions of Russian culture—as if by magic. <> Even as a child, I was captivated by the history of the Russian Revolution. I was fascinated by its incredible drama.
(Lenta.ru, 2019)
Born in Suffolk, he was the firstborn son of a photographer and a writer. Four of his five siblings would later be involved in filmmaking – his brother Jacob will play "Shakespeare in Love", Magnus will become a composer, the sisters will become film directors (at Martha Ralph will play the lead role in the film "Onegin".
He studied acting in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in different years. Anthony Hopkins, Alan Rickman, Sean Bean.
In 1987, at the Royal National Theatre, he played in Arkady Kirsanov’s adaptation of Turgenev’s novel Fathers and Sons, a friend of the nihilist Bazarov.
From 1988 he served at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
In 1997, at the Almeida Theatre Studio, he played the role of Ivanov in Chekhov's play of the same name.
"People like Ivanov don't solve problems; they collapse under their weight. They get lost, throw up their hands, get nervous, complain, do stupid things, and ultimately, giving in to their frayed, unhinged nerves, lose their footing." — Chekhov wrote about his hero.
Fiennes convincingly portrayed a man on the brink of madness. The production was later shown at the Maly Theatre in Moscow.
In England, the Russian school of acting and drama has always played a special role in the theatrical world. Chekhov in particular. His characters are so natural, so complex, so authentic. As students, we all dreamed of bringing them to life on stage.
(Lenta.ru)
He has won and been nominated for numerous theater and film awards. He was nominated for an Oscar twice, for his roles in The English Patient and Schindler's List.
In the latter he played an SS Hauptsturmführer and commandant of the concentration camp in Plaszow - Amon Goeth, He personally murdered at least 500 prisoners. When Fiennes was introduced to the former Auschwitz prisoner during the casting, she couldn't hide her shudder—he resembled the real-life Goeth so much. For the role, he not only studied the SS man's biography but also researched the causes of the rise of National Socialism in Europe.
It's an oversimplification of any discourse—if you don't agree with me, you're a traitor to the country. I think there are plenty of good people out there who aren't necessarily inherently cruel and destructive. I think people just like to feel like they're part of a herd.
(from an interview with Mikhail Zygar)
He gained worldwide fame after playing Voldemort in the Harry Potter films. He initially wanted to turn it down, but his sister Martha, who by then had three children aged 8 to 12, convinced him he simply had to play the part.
A child was passing by, and I didn't mean to scare him. But he saw me in makeup and started crying.
In 2011, he became the chairman of the jury of the Tarkovsky International Film Festival "Zerkalo" in Ivanovo. There he met Vera Glagoleva, She invited him to star in a film based on Turgenev's play "A Month in the Country"—"Two Women." He agreed. Even though his character, Rakitin, spoke Russian, the role was re-dubbed due to his accent.
But in his own film, "Nureyev: The White Raven," Fiennes, who plays the choreographer-teacher, uses his own voice. This retro drama about the life and escape of dancer Rudolf Nureyev from the USSR to the free West was released in 2018.
He was a complex man. But a genius. And he had a desire to open up society. <> For me, this was symbolically connected to an artist's need for freedom of expression. To boldly declare who you are.
(from an interview with Mikhail Zygar)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine shocked and depressed:
For me, war is some kind of obscenity, a dirty thing <> Is this really the best a person can do? Is this really our level?
