Livewire, UK
April/May 2000
By York Membery

When Joseph emerged from brother Ralph's shadow as a Hollywood star, it looked like coincidence - until siblings Martha, Magnus and Sophie revealed their own extraordinary talents. York Membery searches for the secret to the phenomenal success of the Fiennes family.

Surely, if there were awards for high-flying show-business families, the Fiennes clan would have a houseful by now. Statuettes would be clogging up the hallway, blocking the stairs and propping open doors. Few British families - with the exception of the Mills clan (Sir John, Hayley and Juliet) and the Redgraves (Michael, Vanessa, Corin) - can lay claim to having made such a mark on the world of entertainment. "They're an incredibly talented lot," says David Parfitt, who produced Shakespeare in Love starring Joseph Fiennes. "I don't think it's going too far to say that the Fiennes family is to their generation what the Redgraves were to an earlier generation."

The clan has certainly punched above its weight, winning plaudits for achievements in the world of film and music, and simultaneously enhancing Britain's reputation for artistic excellence. First off the starting blocks was Ralph, now 37, who initially made his mark on the stage with a towering performance as Henry VI in 1988's acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production of the Plantagenets at Stratford-upon-Avon. He went on to win international acclaim with his portrayal of a psychotic Nazi camp commandant in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. Three years later, he played the enigmatic Count Almasy in the epic wartime romance, The English Patient. Both roles won him Oscar nominations.

His latest film, Neil Jordan's haunting adaptation of The End of the Affair, Graham Greene's autobiographical tale of an illicit wartime love affair, has also been a critical and commercial success.

Next to mark was Joseph. After a seven-year theatrical apprenticeship, he too moved into films. Pictures such as Martha - Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence hinted at a talent for light comedy. And with his next films, the costume dramas Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love, Joseph fully emerged from Ralph's shadow and hit the big time.

Two other siblings also seem to be on the fast track to fame: the bright-eyed Martha, who bristles with energy and enthusiasm, and goatee-bearded Magnus, who shares his brothers' good looks. As well as producing and arranging songs for pop groups such as All Saints, the Spice Girls and Boyzone, 34-year old Magnus has composed music for television adverts for Peugeot and Pepsi and a number of other brands.

And Martha, 35, carved a career for herself as a director of commercials and pop videos - for such diverse acts as Boy George and cult band XTC - before making her feature film directorial debut with Onegin last year. The £20m screen adaptation of the Russian writer Pushkin's 19th-century verse novel was very much a family affair, with Ralph starring in the title role and Magnus composing the soundtrack.

A small acting role in Onegin was also found for Martha's younger sister, Sophie, who, at 32, is making a name for herself as a theatrical designer and photographer. Only sibling number six, Jake, has not joined the show business rush for glory. But Jake, 30, made a conscious decision to become a gamekeeper. As twin brother Joseph points out: "He is doing what he passionately believes in, as we all are."

So just what is the secret of the Fiennes' astonishing success? Is it simply down to hard graft? Or, as some suggest, is their success down to good luck and knowing the right people?

Family role models are certainly not in short supply. The children's father, Eton-educated Mark, came from one of Britain's most distinguished ancestral lines. His family owned land in England since around 100AD. Others who made their mark include Nathaniel Fiennes, who was a colonel in Cromwell's army; and Eustace Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, who became private secretary to Churchill, and was later made governor of the Seychelles. And, of course, there is the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, famous for his daring polar expeditions, to whom Ralph and his siblings are second cousins.

Meanwhile the children's mother, Jennifer Lash, (or Jini as she was known) was the daughter of an officer in the Indian Army. "Knowledge of their lineage inspired Jini, in particular, to instil in the children a belief that anything was possible," says an old friend. It also helped the family through the challenges ahead. For while the children spent their earliest years living in a magnificent 22-rooom manor house, Elms Farm in Wangford, Suffolk, they would have an unusually peripatetic upbringing.

Unable to make a success of farming, Mark Fiennes tried to make his name in photography and, in the space of a few years, the family uprooted to Ireland, the West Country and London. The twins, Joseph and Jake, attended 14 schools. "I felt we were always the odd ones out," remarks Joseph. "We were always on the move and never had a permanent base. " If anything, though, this served t push Ralph and Joseph towards acting. "We had to adapt to fit in," says Joseph. "And one could reinvent oneself at each school as a different person. In Dorset, I adopted a Dorset accent, in Ireland I had an Irish lilt."

Similarly, when Ralph arrived at Bishop Wordsworth's school in Salisbury in the 70s, he initially had trouble adapting to his surroundings, but appearing in school plays gave him new confidence. "He never really looked back," says a former classmate.

But it is Jini, who tragically died of breast cancer in 1993, aged 55, who should be given supreme credit for her offspring's artistic achievements. She fuelled their creative instincts from an early age, nurturing Ralph's passion for the arts by giving him a Pollock's toy theatre with which he would perform versions of well-known works.

Defiantly individual in their approach to life, Jini even took charge of the children's education, the result being that they enjoyed an endearingly bohemian upbringing. As Martha once commented, her parents were "out of another age", although, nowadays, she and her siblings seem keen to play down the "bohemian idyll" view of their childhood. "It was eccentric, certainly," she says. "But just as importantly, m mother taught us about application, concentration and putting in the sweat - and that has helped us achieve our aims." It was also a highly competitive household, says Michael Emery, 47, the siblings' brother, who was adopted [my note: he was fostered] by the Fiennes family. "You only had to see them playing tabletennis. They were as competitive as any professional sportsman. Jini would tell them: You play to win. You've got to achieve something, gain something."

Winning was a habit they indeed acquired early, as Martha reveals:"One day Jini encouraged us all to enter a competition for children's paintings. A few weeks later the postman arrived with a package for Ralph. He had won his age group and got a transistor radio. Two days later, the postman arrived with a package for me. Two days after that he was back with a package for Magnus..."

So what of the future? Despite his success as a film star, Ralph seems determined not to turn his back on the stage. He is currently appearing as Richard II in the Almeida theatre production being staged at the former Gainsborough Film Studios in London's East End. In June he opens in the title role in Shakespeare's other great exploration of power, Coriolanus.

After appearing in the high-octane thriller Rancid Aluminium, Joseph started shooting the £55m World War II epic, Enemy at the Gates, in Germany earlier this year. The most expensive film ever made in Europe, it is the story of the doomed German attack on Stalingrad that cost Hitler the war. Joseph plays a Russian officer whose best friend, played by Jude Law, duels with a German over a woman the both love.

Meanwhile Martha, who juggles her film-making career with bringing up two children, is currently planning a new, still-to-be-revealed, screen project. But her star is also on the ascendant. "On the basis of Onegin, she would certainly be on my directors's wish list," says Parfitt. As for Magnus, he is busy setting up his own record company. He has also produced the debut album by the hotly-tipped Bond - a Spice Girl-style string quartet - and is hoping to take the music business by storm with his own virtual reality pop group. "The great thing about a virtual pop group is that they are not suddenly going to get pregnant or pull out of a gig," he says.

Like her sister, Sophie is presently keeping her options open, but a friend says: "She has been offered work on a number of film-related projects, but has yet to make a final decision." The family is also keen to team up again in the future, according to Magnus. "The fact that we were all involved on Onegin was something of an accident, but we hope to work together again because there was such a great synergy between us."

So are we witnessing the birth of a new show-business dynasty? Perhaps, concedes Magnus, though he quickly adds: "If we are, it is more by accident than design. I think the family are far too shy and retiring to want such a thing." Whether or not this is true, one thing seems certain: individually the siblings will continue to shine. "A family such as the Fiennes only comes along once in a generatin," observes Parfitt. "And whatever made Ralph, Joseph and the others what they are, we should be immensely grateful."

Ralph, 37
Studied at RADA. Shot to fame in Schindler's List, starred in Quiz Show, The English Patient and The End of the Affair. Has pursued parallel stage career: playing Hamlet, and currently Richard II and Coriolanus. Divorced from actress Alex Kingston.

Martha, 35
Former director of commercials and pop videos, she made her feature film directorial debut with Onegin, a tragic love story set in 1820s Russia. Married, with two children.

Magnus, 34
Songwriter and producer. After releasing an album jokily titled Preaching the Perverted, he went on to write Onegin's musical score. Married, he has just set up his own record label.

Sophie, 32
Had a small part in Onegin but doesn't want to be known as an actress. Made short film, Lars from 1-10. Best known as a theatrical designer and photographer.

Joseph, 30
Studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Appeared in plays such as A Month in the Country, before moving into films, Stealing Beauty and Martha - Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. Lead roles in Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love.

Jake, 30
Gamekeeper on a 4,500-acre estate in Norfolk, primarily for game birds. Also writes occasional articles on the countryside. Would he ever swap places with a city dweller? "No chance".

The author is a freelance journalist and author of "Ralph Fiennes - the Unauthorised Biography", published by Chameleon Books.