E! News Sunshine Blurb

October 19, 1999

Transcript of E! News "Sunshine" blurb

E! (news anchor): Ralph Fiennes has made a career of playing historical figures in epic films like Schindler's List and The English Patient. His latest venture, Sunshine, is no different. Fiennes plays three separate characters over the course of an entire century. As Patrick Stinson tells us, it's a demanding role for Ralph, and one that reveals more of the actor than ever before.

E! (Patrick Stinson): Ralph Fiennes begins the film as Ignatz Sonnenschein, a HungarianJewish lawyer at the turn of the century. It's a multi-generational tale of forbidden love and political upheaval, set against the backdrop of worldevents. Over time, Fiennes plays a father, his son, and then his grandson

Ralph Fiennes: People keep asking me about the challenge of playing three different men. I mean, the challenge, that was part of it, but really each character presented their own challenge in themselves.

E! (PS): The role required Ralph to do some fencing, a sport he fell in love with during the long shoot. He also had some very revealing nude scenes. Not a problem, says Ralph:

RF: "There's none of that sort of coy, self conscious, sort of... thing that happens in some films. No, I mean the nudity was in the script, it had to be there."

E! (PS): 'William Hurt stars opposite Ralph in the last chapter of the film, and he can't say enough about Fiennes as an actor:'

William Hurt: "He is an artist. Yeah, I think he was born to be. I mean, even when he sketches and doodles, which he does sometimes between shots, if he's just got a pen on a desk and there's a piece of paper lying in front of him, he'll doodle something better than you would ever show anybody."

E! (PS) 'Sunshine made it's debut at the recent Toronto film festival.'