Fotogramas Magazine (Spain) Interview

Ralph Fiennes. More dangerous than Hannibal Lecter
In "Red Dragon" he plays a psychopath with no pity. In "Spider" he roles a non- dangerous schizophrenic. As an actor, he is a professional in constant growth. In his real life, he is a man seeking for calm. These are a few of the facets we figure out from this English actor, a man much more balanced than his two last characters.
By Beatrice Sartori (translation)

FOTOGRAMAS: Did you get any personal pleasure during the shooting of the secuence of torture and rough murder of the journalist Freddy Lounds, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman?
RALPH FIENNES: No, neither while shooting, nor when burning Philip Seymour. But I liked the idea of bursting a newspaperman alive. Should I do it systematically...I would maybe discover my second nature (guffaw)

F: The producer Dino de Laurentiis says it was difficult to convince you to play the role of Francis Dolarhyde, in "Red Dragon"
RF: I was sceptical, but I agreed to read Ted Tally's (The Silence of the Lambs) script, and I thought it was really good. It was another thriller of psychological terror, much more similar to Jonathan Demme's film than to Ridley Scott's "Hannibal", respectfuly. Furthermore, the cast included Emily Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Harvey Keitel...I'm disappointed I have no scenes with Hopkins.

F: "Red Dragon" is a remake of "Manhunter", by Michael Mann. Did you see the film before the shooting or did you avoid it?
RF: I saw it only a little time ago. I prepared the character referring to the book, the script and some aspects developed during the filming. And I'm satisfied because, contrary to Mann's film, my love story with Reba (Emily Watson) has been extended, adquiring more importance.

F: Another difference with Mann's film is the figure-out of your character's past.
RF: I think it's essential. In "Manhunter", Dolarhyde was only a very cruel monster, pure evil. But "Red Dragon" shows his first humiliations from his family and the result: the irremediable mind's illness, the forge of a psychopath.

F: At that point we detect some similarities between your character and "Psycho's"' Norman Bates.
RF: We could say that, yes. But my character doesn't dress as a mother with a wig and a housecoat; he takes off his vestments.

TATOOS:

F: You show an enormous tattoo covering all your back. What was the process?
RF: The design took three days and six hours work to draw it on my back, retouchings, replenishments of colours...

F: Do you have any tatoos?
RF: I say no because if I say yes you will ask me where, and I wouldn't tell you.

F: The director, Brett Ratner, has told me your penis size had to be reduced digitally in order not to scandalize the audience...
RF: That's absolutely true. But, has he really told you that?

F: Was it hard to stay naked for so long?
RF: I found a trick which worked. I asked for the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack by The Bee Gees.

F: How did you prepare the character?
RF: Reading about real cases similar to the crimes committed by this ficticious person. FBI files and documents about how they tried to penetrate these people's minds. I also read memories of those people, conveying what made them commit such aberrations and atrocities. Edward Norton, who plays my pursuer, gave me some documents and I visited a mental hospital in a high security jail...All that made me wonder about obscure facets of human nature.

F: Did you find any answers?
RF: No, none. Maybe I understood the motivations of some of those people. In almost all cases, the origins of their disorders were sexual. All the crimes gave them confidence and the sensation of power, domination.

TWO UNBALANCED CHARACTERS:

F: Which are the similarities between your characters in "Red Dragon" and "Spider"?
RF: Both have psychological problems. Dolarhyde (Red Dragon) is more dominant and perverse, while Dennis Cleg (Spider) suffers from a mild madness: he is lost, confused, shy and cautious. He has done something terrible but he builds a labyrinthian memory system in order not to face his past.

F: Your work as Dennis Cleg for David Cronenberg's "Spider" is being called a "tour de force".
RF: I was attracted by his tragic figure of a lonely, lost man, writing his peculiar authobiography, his poetic obscure memories. I like his loneliness, the challenge of using my body and eyes to express his necessities. And the beauty of London's East End crude atmosphere that is shown in the film. It brings me back to Dostoyevsky's books. I think in "Spider" Cronenberg has succeded in the filming of human insides.

F: Which of the two characters do you prefer?
RF: Cronenberg gave me a character that I love. He reminds me of Samuel Beckett's plays' characters, because his inner life is very strong and he has an unusual way to protect himself from the rest of the world. But the filming was hard.

F: Why?
RF: Because of money. At the beginning I thought my name, my experience, would help to finance the film, but afterwards I realised none of my films had been a commercial success. That's why I accept roles as "Red Dragon", so I can get money and fame to do other type of films.

F: In "Red Dragon" you play a terrible monster. As a child, were you scared of someone?
R: Not really, only of an obscure force that I thought was prowling around my house. The feeling that overcame me during my sleep was terrible and oppressive. That was why every morning I looked down my bed. Usually, there was only shoes, lost things and dust.

F: And what frightens you now?
RF: Life in general. But being an actor gives me the chance to escape from cruel reality.

BELATED VOCATION:

F: You had a nomadic childhood and youth...
RF: Yes, because my father was a photographer. But it was very happy and lively thanks to my brothers, although sometimes we lacked of money for essential things. But my first memories of my childhood are very happy. We all lived in a farm built in the 18th century.

F: You wanted to be an actor, then?
RF: No, I'm a late vocation actor! I always wanted to be a painter and that's why I went to London. But a friend introduced me in The Amateur Youth Theatre and there everything started.

F: You are rehearsing the play "The Talking Cure", where you play the swiss psychologist Carl Jung. Do you feel more at ease in the stage?
RF: I don't see differences between cinema and theatre in terms of quality or substance. I analyse the characters, their depth and the beauty of words. And I love the characters that make me grow and anchor me to Earth. Performing is for me an experience of growth and change.

F: You have filmed with Jennifer Lopez. What kind of woman is she in the film "Maid in Manhattan"?
RF: She is Marisa Ventura, a mother from the Bronx and chambermaid in a luxurious hotel. I'm Christopher Marshal, son of a senator and member of an ambitious politicians' saga. Something like a new "Cinderella".

F: On 22nd December you will be forty; that worries you?
RF: I like becoming an "old" man, I feel at ease, because growing helps me to accept myself.

F: Which present would you like?
RF: Mental calm, lose my facility to get anxious; I always worry too much about things.

F: Having a vast carrer, is it easy for you to perform?
RF: The essence of performing is not difficult. I love it. And with practice, its more and more easy.

F: Have you done any performances only for money?
RF: No, never. When I go into the theatre, wages are little, but it's a great pleasure. I also like cinema, and you earn more, but not always. For example, my penultimate work was in "The Good Thief", by Neil Jordan, a friend of mine. I earned almost nothing, but I have got other benefits.

El Stepho Zone