Daily Express
23 September, 2000
By Mark Jagasia

Joseph Fiennes, the dashing star of Shakespeare in Love, is to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother Ralph and return to the stage.

Joe, 30, has turned down several film offers to take the title role in Edward II by Christopher Marlowe. Playing the troubled homosexual king will be his first stage appearance since Shakespeare in Love swept the board at the 1998 Oscars. The decision to take on the part will be interpreted as an example of the amicable competition between Joe and Ralph, who has recently sold out theatres in London and New York with his performance as Shakespeare's Richard II. He is still performing off-Broadway and is about to start a brief run in Japan. "Joe had hundreds of offers to play Romeo after finishing Shakespeare in Love," says a source close to the actor. "But he's been busy making films.

"He's just shot a World War II movie about Stalingrad with Jude Law. Next he'll be filming a thriller, Killing Me Softly, and then doing Edward II on stage. There's no doubt it will be compared with his brother's Richard. It'll be interesting to see what people make of it."Edward II will open next March at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre and later transfer to London. Once Ralph finishes his stage run he will be returning to the big screen alongside Julia Roberts in a remake of the Frank Sinatra film Ocean's 11.