Planet Hollywood
March 15, 2001
By Prairie Miller

Enemy at the Gates brings to the screen one of the most devastating battles of World War II. But for actor Joseph Fiennes, there's a quieter - and equally painful - struggle going on between his character, Soviet political officer Danilov and Jude Law's Russian national war hero Vassili, for the love of the same woman. Despite his personal heartbreak within the movie, Fiennes maintains a fairly cool demeanor, maybe because he already had some great practice in the love department, wooing Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare In Love. Fiennes talked to PlanetHollywood.com about what gets his creative juices flowing as an actor, and the performance that he thrilled himself most with in recent times, playing magician for his two year old nephew...

PLANET HOLLYWOOD: Was Danilov based on a real person?

JOSEPH FIENNES: Danilov is fictitious, although [there] is one reference to a Danilov who was a political officer, who might have collaborated. He may have taken down notes in diary form of the life and times of Vassili Zaitsev. But in my mind, he's fictitious.

Other than that, there was nothing for me to build upon, so it was a wonderful opportunity to have a blank sheet of paper, and work with a character who didn't have a historical reference. There were two pillars of information that I worked from, books written by people who survived Stalingrad.

PH: What is the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad?

JF: During this period of history from 1942 to 1943, the impact of Stalingrad was that it was one of the most pivotal battles in the Second World War. It brought about the beginning of the end of the war, and had a direct repercussion for the American Allies as well as Europe. This defeat brought about the end of nazism.

PH: Are you impressed with Enemy at the Gates?

JF: Immensely. This is the biggest production that I've ever participated in. And I can't explain the impact when you walk on to one of the sets. They were incredibly designed. I guess a production of this magnitude allows the actor to be totally absorbed by what's going on. There wasn't any sort of modern stimulus outside that set.

That allowed an actor to totally submerge himself into a world so far removed from his own. Often you're seeking to force that, and impress it upon yourself, and here it was given for free. You walked into this world, and you just had to exist within this chaos.

Those conditions lent the tiniest, but nevertheless at times real, idea of what it might have been like for those soldiers. So it gave an idea, and a real flavor. And if you times that by a million or more, you might just come up with an idea of the abhorrent and extreme conditions in which those young men were fighting. I can't wait to see the finished product.

PH: How did you get a sense of those historical times in Enemy at the Gates?

JF: I felt it was implicit in the talks that I had with [director] Jean-Jacques Annaud, and really in the material and then specifically in the character of Danilov. It was all there for me. That's what I was drawn to, and that was my main dialogue with Jean-Jacques and the other actors.

And I was driven. I felt quite clearly, by the persona of Danilov, on an emotional level. As an actor, I try to lock on and understand the human element, how characters tick, or why they make the decisions they do...

PH: Annaud allowed you and the other British stars of Enemy at the Gates to speak naturally, and without Russian accents. How do you think that affected the movie?

JF: It allowed a nuance within the class distinctions. Jude Law's Vassili speaks with a rougher, more working class edge. And Rachel Weisz and I are more middle and upper class intellectual. I don't think that even if an actor could get the nuances working on a Russian accent with class distinctions, an audience would necessarily pick up on that. And I think ultimately the narrative is the most important focus. So hopefully the audience can lock on to the narrative, and forget the whole issue of accents...

PH: Is there anything uncomfortable for you, in your transition from stage actor to movie star?

JF: I don't think I am a star, but I feel privileged that I can go between the two disciplines of theater and film. Film is really a privileged byproduct of my passion for theater. For instance, after Shakespeare In Love, I went back to the theater, and I'm going back to the theater again now.

In terms of contrast, theater is all about what the character speaks at that moment, that's who he is. And the pulse of the character is in the line. But in film, the syntax is visual, and it is often what is not said that speaks. And I love the difference between those two dynamics.

I feel that I'm lucky enough to go between the two. Both lend an energy to each other and the people and the interaction that takes place on film, lends a wisdom to theater, as well as the other way around. So I'm grateful that I can go between the two. It's all about the written word, and as an actor, that's my lifeline and support. The written word is where I exist, that's what I hold hands with...

PH: What's the plus of making a movie within another culture, as with Enemy at the Gates?

JF: I find a great source of inspiration and richness, working with different cultures. They shed a lot of light for me not only on their cultures, but on my own. The way that they view my culture, teaches me objectively about myself, and I love that.

PH: You and your brother [actor Ralph Fiennes] have shared some of the same women in different movies, like Cate Blanchett and Rachel Weisz. Do you two guys get together and compare notes about your same leading ladies by any chance?

JF: Maybe we should! But no, we never have, out of respect for the actresses. Ralph and me tend not to talk shop when we get together. So no, we don't really exchange stories much.

PH: Then what do you do when you get together, talk about rugby?

JF: Yup! When we get together, it's usually for holidays. And now that I have lots of nieces and nephews, I've become Uncle Joe, who does all the party tricks. So no time for shop [talk] for me, I have to do hand tricks with coins, make things disappear, and things like that. And to tell you the truth, I love doing that. It's great when you can fool a two year old!