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Ralph Fiennes says he had to learn a whole new approach to acting in order to play Jennifer Lopez's love interest in Maid in Manhattan.
"I'd just finished filming Red Dragon in Florida and four days later had to be playing Jennifer's lover in Maid in Manhattan," recalls Fiennes. "Jennifer is very funny and understands the demands of romantic comedy. She was so relaxed.
"I, on the other hand, had to find a whole other tone, which I haven't had in any other film I've done."
Fiennes says he actually found romantic comedy challenging because "there is no subtext of angst or distress or frustration.
"I'd think: 'Is this it? I smile, I say hello and look like I love her?' I finally got into the groove of it and it proved to be great fun."
Fiennes says he now has great respect for romantic comedy legends such as Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.
"They had a throwaway lightness and an ability to let lines just trickle off their tongue. It's looks so easy when they're doing it, but it's actually very, very hard.
"It's anything but natural. Like magic, it's sleight of hand." During the filming of Maid in Manhattan there were rumours Fiennes and Lopez were creating as many sparks off camera as they were on camera.
"It was a setup. Someone set up the idea she was having an affair with me when it was really with someone else. I was the decoy.
"J. Lo denies this, but then there was Ben (Affleck).
"I said: 'Jennifer, I'm a little jealous. We were having a thing here and now it's Ben.'
"J. Lo has a whirlwind lifestyle and I just hung out with Stanley Tucci."
Fiennes has been living with actress Francesca Annis since 1995.
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© EL STEPHO
Added to the RF Reading Room on February 3, 2003
EL STEPHO