 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
 |
|
When Ralph Fiennes' mother passed away in 1992, her children were determined that her love of Ireland be somehow represented during her funeral. And so it was, that as Jennifer or Jini, as she liked to be called was lowered into the ground, her coffin was draped with a tablecloth sewn with a map of Ireland.
"My mother had a very strong love of Ireland," offers the 37-year old actor. "I think in many ways it was her spiritual home. We lived there for a while, of course, when I was just a child, and I still remember the smells, and the endless shades of green. And the rain, of course."
Their mother Jini and father Mark having moved the family to Ireland in the late '60s, Ralph and his six siblings Martha, Sophie, Magnus, twins Joseph and Jake, and the adopted Michael spent most of their time here travelling. Moving around the west coast, the family eventually built themselves a home in West Cork, Ralph later attending school in Kilkenny.
"Every time I'm in Ireland, I always try and head down to West Cork and make a stop-off at Kilkenny," he smiles, "just to check out my Irish roots, so to speak. Our mother actually taught us mainly at home, but there would be times when we'd join the rest of the human race. I haven't been over here in a while actually. I've just been working way too hard lately."
Fiennes lets out a low laugh, his diary indeed currently bursting at the seams with scripts to read, premieres to attend, plays to rehearse and, clearly his least favourite of the lot, interviews to be conducted. After a few moments alone with him, it's not difficult to see why someone like Ralph Fiennes needs a hard-nosed battleaxe for a personal assistant. Left to his own polite devices, Ralph Fiennes would probably be eaten alive by the first unscrupulous journalist he comes up against. I'm not feeling particularly unscrupulous today, but just to make sure, Ralph Fiennes' matronly PA (all in black, of course) has let me know that I can't ask her employer "anything personal". By this, she clearly means his relationship with Francesca Annis, the actress for whom he left his wife, Alex Kingston (another actress, of course). Current tabloid speculation has them either on the verge of breaking up or celebrating their secret marriage in St Petersburg. The problem is, I don't really care either way.
What I would like to know though is why a man who so plainly finds being a celebrity uncomfortable wants to get up in front of thousands of people and be adored?
"Yeah, I ask myself that question sometimes too," smiles Fiennes. "Of course, there must be some part of me that wants that attention, that sense of approval, as there is with any actor or performer. Doing interviews is a necessary part of making films, and I accept that, but there is a level to it that is somewhat disturbing. I remember one journalist pushing me on the idea that since I'd played a Nazi so convincingly in Schindler's List that there must be a dark place within me that has the potential to be that character. And I wouldn't allow her the satisfaction of giving her the quote that she wanted, that, 'yes, I have a dark, Nazi side'. She didn't seem to be able to comprehend the fact that acting is all about illusion, about creating a character, a reality that isn't actually true. It's a collusion between the actor and the audience."
When Fiennes says that he first stepped onto the stage, at the National Theatre in 1987, with the goal "to become an actor, not a star", you almost believe him. There are others Daniel Day Lewis, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn who have managed to steer largely clear of the publicity treadmill that feeds on the insides of celebrities' minds and their luxurious homes, but Fiennes recognises that privacy comes at a price. When your face isn't on every newsstand and on every goggle-box, then you don't get as many bums on seats. And right now, bums on seats is what Ralph Fiennes seems to be looking for.
Having come to international recognition in 1993 for his role as the bloodless commandant Amon Goeth in Spielberg's Holocaust epic Schindler's List, Fiennes career peaked in 1995 with Anthony Minghella's Oscar-gobbling romantic drama The English Patient. Since then, it's been a steady climb artistically and a steady slide commercially. Films such as Oscar And Lucinda and Strange Days have had the critics fawning and the public yawning. Fiennes has made some wise choices (1994's Quiz Show) and some incredibly dumb ones (1998's The Avengers), but recent years have seen a distinct lack of anything even remotely resembling a box-office hit.
"A part of me couldn't care less about the box-office," states Fiennes softly. "A very large part of me, in fact, but I also recognise that it's important to have a certain amount of success if you want to keep working in this business. I enjoy making movies, and you always hope that each one you make will find its audience, but there are times when I think I really should just retreat to the theatre full-time. The air is far cleaner there."
Not that Fiennes isn't currently having a happy time working in film. Last year he took both the lead role and the job of producer in Onegin, an adaptation of Alexander Pushkin's book-length poem that was directed by his sister, Martha, and had a soundtrack composed by his brother, Magnus. Inevitably, sibling rivalry reared its ugly head on more than one occasion.
"Martha and I both knew when we were going into this project that it wouldn't always be fun, and it was a testing time for us on occasion. But it was a learning process, and one that was wonderful to go through together like that. I'm sure we'll work together again."
The reason Ralph Fiennes is meeting and greeting the world's press today is not Onegin though, but Neil Jordan's adaptation of Graham Greene's semi-autobiographical novel, The End Of The Affair. Fiennes plays the egotistical, jealous lover of married socialite Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore), her cuckolded husband (played by our own Stephen Rea) afraid to intervene lest he lose the woman he loves forever.
"I'd almost forgotten we were here to talk about that," he laughs. "It's a wonderful film, isn't it? Neil really captured the essence of the book, I think, and it throws up so many questions and insights and beautiful images."
One image in The End Of The Affair that the British Board of Film Classification didn't find all that beautiful involved a panting Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore getting down to some impromptu rumpy-pumpy. There were two such moments that the board's director, Robin Duval, found a little too steamy to take, giving Jordan's film an 18 cert in the UK. When asked to explain his decision, Duval stated that during one particular scene, "Ralph's bottom was pumping too many times".
"Have you ever heard such nonsense," laughs Fiennes. "I couldn't believe that line when I read it. I'd understand if this were a teen comedy and we were high school kids making out a little too graphically in the back of a car or whatever, but this is plainly not that kind of movie. I really despair for the Board of Film Classification if that's the kind of world they think we live in today, a world where two adults making love is something obscene."
That Ireland should grant The End Of The Affair a 15 cert whilst England has an 18 is certainly something of a turnaround.
"You guys must be getting more and more liberal over here, whereas back in England, they're becoming more and more conservative," muses Fiennes. "I hope it doesn't affect the film's box-office too much, because it's a film I'm very proud of. Then again, I'm proud of all my films."
Um, even though one of them is The Avengers, recently voted by me and my admittedly drunken mates as The Worst Big Screen Adaptation Of A Really Cool TV Show Ever? Wouldn't Ralph like to use this opportunity to apologise to all those people who paid good money to go and see it?
"Oh, I don't think I could ever apologise for any film I make," he finishes with only the smallest hint of a blush. "We set out to make a good film, and it just didn't turn out right. I don't think you can apologise for something that was well-intentioned. Besides, we'd just have to start refunding money, and that could start a very dangerous trend."
End of story.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
© EL STEPHO
Added to the RF Reading Room on June 9, 2000
EL STEPHO