OK! (UK), February 18, 2000
By Marina Licht

In the week Ralph stepped out with Francesca Annis
OK! looks at the personal and professional lives of two of Britain's most romantic leading men

There is something about Ralph Fiennes that is reminiscent of old style Hollywood. Along with his younger brother Joseph, Ralph has rightly earned himselph a reputation in the film industry as an archetypal British gentleman. Despite attracting enormous publicity when he split from his wife, actress Alex Kingston, and started living with Francesca Annis - who is 17 years his senior - Ralph shuns the glitzy showbiz lifestyle that many of his contemporaries are more than happy to lead. Although he was seen out with Francesca recently, taking to the dancefloor of the Park Lane Hotel's ballroom following the London premiere of his latest film "The End of The Affair", he usually prefers to keep a much lower profile.

Ralph, 36 and 54-year-old Francesca first became close when they appeared together in "Hamlet" at the Hackney Empire in East London. Ralph was playing the lead role, whilst Francesca had the part of his mother, Gertrude. When the pair embarked on a relationship together, there was obvious scepticism in media circles about the age difference between the couple. Francesca was living at the time with photographer Patrick Wiseman, whilst Ralph's marriage to Alex Kingston was barely two years old.

Although questions were initially raised about the compatibility of Ralph and Francesca Annis, it soon became apparent that their relationship was much more serious than a passing fling. "They are both highly intelligent people with highbrow tastes, be in art, literature or the theatre, and they stimulate each other intellectually, which is extremely important in the success of their relationship", said Ralph's biographer York Membery recently.

Unlike many actors of his generation, Ralph has no desire to be seen out at top celebrity parties, mixing with Britain's most promising actors. He avoids being photographed, shies away from talking about his personal life and prefers to keep the media solely interested in his carrer. Whatever role Ralph has decided to take on, he has approached each part with the same intensity and resoluteness. He has clearly thought about his every career move, and his choice of films, "Schindler's List", "Quiz Show", "Strange Days", "The English Patient" and "Onegin", demonstrates how seriously he takes his craft. Although Ralph has become very well known, he remains an enigmatic figure in the film industry. "I suppose acting was a liberation. It gave me a chance to be someone other than myself", he has previously said.

One person who has had an incredible effect on Ralph's life is his novelist mother Jennifer Lash. Jini, as she was known to her immediate family, died in 1993, after a six-year battle with cancer. "She was an extraordinary woman, lovely, very powerful", Ralph has said. "She gave us all confidence. She encouraged us in all sorts of ways that weren't conventional. She saw the individual and possibility in each of us."

The Fiennes family is a close one, and all of them have excelled at whatever they have put their minds to. Ralph and his brother Joseph are the better known members of the family, but their siblings have also attracted a fair amount of media interest. Martha Fiennes has recently made a name for herself by directing a film version of Alexander Pushkin's "Onegin", and the production was truly a family affair: Ralph had the lead role, and the score was produced by their brother Magnus.

The other members of the family include Sophie, who is a film producer and writer, and archaelogist Michael Emery, who was adopted when he was eleven by Jini and her husband Mark.

But while it seems that the Fiennes family is ready to conquer every corner of the creative world, there is one exception. Joseph's twin brother Jacob has gone in the opposite direction to his siblings, choosing a career as a gamekeeper in Norfolk. "I'm very different from the rest of the family. I'm a country boy at heart and I live a quiet life, "he has said previously.

Yet there can be no doubt that Ralph is the most famous of the Fiennes clan, with Joseph not far behind. Although he is the youngest in the family, Joseph has already achieved a great deal of success in the acclaimed film "Elizabeth" and the Oscar-winning "Shakespeare in Love", which starred Gwyneth Paltrow. However, like his brother Ralph, Joseph has an endearing humility, and seems unlikely to ever become starstruck. Before his enormous film successes, Joseph spent three years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which he thorougly enjoyed. "I'm more interested in the material, the play itself, than starring alongside Clint Eastwood or something," he has said." Film is far more manipulative, for sure. I'm learning a lot about it. But every piece of theatre is like a canvas:you take off the paint and reapply it."

After Joseph appeared in "Shakespeare in Love", the acting world naturally assumed that he would head off to Hollywood to make more blockbuster films. What he did instead was take a six-month break to travel, before returning to the theatre. He also did a low-budget British film, "Rancid Aluminium , with Nick Moran and Sadie Frost. "After "Shakespeare..." I had lots of offers to play men in tights. But I'd committed myself to the Royal Court, so that's where I went," he said recently.

Both Ralph and Joseph feel an enormous pull towards the theatre. Ralph studded at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and was a member of the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company before Hollywood came knocking on his door. In recent years Ralph has become particularly loyal to director Jonathan Kent and north London's tiny Almeida Theatre, which has a habit of drawing big names - Kevin Spacey, Liam Neeson and Juliette Binoche - to star in its productions.

Ralph's relationship with the Almeida began in 1995 when he starred in its production of "Hamlet". And after his Oscar nomination for "The English Patient", he returned there to star in a production of Chekhov's "Ivanov", instead of capitalising on his film success by staying in Hollywood.

Joseph, meanwhile, has also preferred theatrical endeavours to the big Hollywood blockbusters. And he guards his privacy as fiercely as his elder brother. "I haven't had to worry about recognition and I would hate to," he has said. "But I guess, yeah, it could happen. And I do worry about it. I'm not particularly fond of it."

As for his personal life, Joseph has no interest in his relationships becoming front page news. His most high-profile romance to date was with actress Catherine McCormack, who starred in "Braveheart" and "The Land Girls" alongside Anna Friel and Rachel Weisz. However, their relationship was very low key, and they were rarely photographed together .

Despite Joseph and Ralph's apparent aversion to celebrity, neither of them have been able to avoid becoming famous. What makes them different from their contemporaries, however, is their refusal to become part of the "in crowd". With their decision to concentrate on roles which they like, rather than huge blockbusters, they have remained true to themselves.