Irish News, January 30, 1999
By Eileen Condon

Until recently his brother was the one with all the accollades, but now is Joseph Fiennes’ time to shine

THIS time last year actor Joseph Fiennes had an instant quip for anyone who made the inevitable link between him and his rather more famous brother Ralph.

“I’m waiting for one original interviewer not to mention him,” he would retort with exasperation.

Well, the wait could well be over because the younger Fiennes seems to be rapidly eclipsing his elder brother in the career stakes.

Ralph may well have stolen the show in the Oscar-winning The English Patient, but right now it is 28-year-old Joseph who reigns supreme thanks to roles in two of the most critically acclaimed films of last year, Elizabeth and Martha Meet Daniel, Frank and Laurence.

Now he’s scored the hat-trick by clinching the lead in the critically acclaimed Shakespeare in Love, which, judging by the reviews so far, could be more than a match for The English Patient in the Oscar stakes. The film has already won a clutch of awards in this week’s Golden Globes in America, often seen as a prediction for the Oscars in March. It was voted best comedy or musical film, writers Sir Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman won best screenplay and Fiennes’ co-star Gwyneth Paltrow won best actress in a comedy film.

Not that Joseph is actively looking to thrash his brother in their chosen profession. In fact he willingly concedes that Ralph has been supportive of his career so far.

“He gave me a lot of encouragement during drama school,” he says, adding, “But at the end of the day you’re on your own. Everything boils down to the individual.”

And in his case he’s proving that he can make it on his own merits. Shakespeare in Love, which opens on Friday, features a stellar cast, including Judi Dench, Gwyneth Paltrow, Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Ben Affleck, but it is Fiennes who dominates the screen as the young William Shakespeare.

The plot is part fiction, part fact and poses the question of what might have happened if Shakespeare really had been suffering from writer’s block as he tried to pen one of the greatest love stories of all time, Romeo and Juliet.

Few actors have portrayed the great Bard and Fiennes is all too aware that all eyes will be on him.

“I know Shakespeare is sacred ground,” he says. “But this script which sparkles at every turn delivers very much a human with faults and emotions, making him accessible.

“I think when you set out to portray historical characters, and especially in this sense, that one has to be self-effacing, you have to humanise them and get rid of the iconic myth of who they were in order for it to become accessible. There’s no point in having Shakespeare if no-one can tap into it.

“Having said that, Shakespeare will always be a mystery to me. He is very mercurial - difficult to pin down. On religion and politics and sex he courts much debate. I think at the end of the day any real history around him is a can of worms and it is best to count our blessings for his plays.

“I could identify with him by the fact that he is a sinister, bruised romantic. Who isn’t?”

It’s about as close as the actor comes to revealing personal details about himself. He is resolutely tight-lipped about his private life, refusing to talk about the recent split from his girlfriend of six years, Sara Griffiths.

He has since been linked to actress Catherine McCormack, who was in Braveheart and Dancing at Lughnasa and is herself seen as a rising talent.

All he is willing to talk about is his passion with Gwyneth Paltrow - purely on the screen, of course.

“This was not my first passionate love scene, but it always feels that way,” he reflects. “The passion has to come across, but it is a fairly cold process. But Gwyneth brings a spontaneity as soon as the camera rolls. She has depth, skill and warmth.”

He is equally gracious about the rest of the esteemed cast. “These are great living actors,” he enthuses, “They were full of inspiration and also the core, the troop of actors who played the parts in Romeo and Juliet in the film they’re incredible, even the extras who give the sense of what it was really like to fill the Globe with 400 people was very special.

“It was one of those rare moments when you work on a play or a film where it clicks. It gels, the actors spark off each other, they enjoy it and they get inspired and they infect each other with their skill. We were just having a hoot and a great laugh and I thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re really enjoying ourselves’.”

Another reason he fell head over heels on love with the role was his own fascination with the Elizabethan era.

“I would love to have lived back then,” he reflects, “It was a very Mediterranean period, a passionate age, violent, dangerous - it’s not repressed. It truly is a golden age - with the birth of Shakespeare, Marlowe and the new sciences, although we were about 100 years behind the Italians.”

But despite his obvious enthusiasm for his latest role, Fiennes doesn’t want to be the actor always seen in tights and has made a conscious decision to move away from period costume for his next movie.

“It’s called Rancid Aluminium and it’s set in the present. I’m playing a mysterious accountant in a grey suit. It’s a complete contrast and just the sort of thing I was looking for,” he smiles.