Ralph Fiennes is one of Britain’s best actors. Schindler’s List, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener, Harry Potter and now ‘M’ in the current James Bond series. These are just some of his award winning achievements on the big screen. His training is more Shakespearean and he has had just as many notable achievements on stage as on screen.
I will refer to Ralph Fiennes as Fiennes, because he has an aura that demands the respect of being called by his surname. Not due to unfriendliness, ‘au contraire’, he was in fact very friendly and nice, purely out of respect and curtesy to a man who deserves it.
My shoot with Fiennes was a short one, at a theatre rehearsal space in South London. He was rehearsing an Ibsen play at the Young Vic. He told me he had paid Oslo a visit to get the gist of where Ibsen might come from. I told him that I was about to head to a cabin, remote, no water and no electricity - and his face lit up. Yes, this was the kind of place I would highly recommend that he’d go to really get the idea of the traditional Norwegian mood. The darkness that Ibsen can portray comes form dark winters, remote and solitude places and closed in society with little external input. The seriousness of Ralph’s acting would complement this perfectly. His captivating eyes, stern and notable presence and the beard to top things off he will be able to will carry off any Ibsen play. For those of you who are curious and want to get ‘educa’ed!’, go check out “The Master Builder” at the Young Vic.
