RALPH FIENNES may be better known among younger film fans as the man without the nose intent on killing boy wizard Harry Potter – Lord Voldemort – but he’s made a return to his first love, Shakespeare, for his next feature.
The star of films including In Bruges and Red Dragon is a self-confessed fan of the Bard, so in his first foray behind the camera, he has decided to direct Coriolanus.
A modern retelling of a play focusing on Roman army leader Caius Martius Coriolanus, who is banished from his city and joins forces with sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to take revenge, could be construed as an odd choice for a first-time director.
But Fiennes admits it was a conscious decision to go down that road.
He said: “It’s not a very user-friendly story and that’s an aspect I liked.
“The times we’re living in are full of unknowns about where we’re headed and there’s a take-no-prisoners quality to this piece. It’s confrontational and it might provoke and challenge an audience.
“For me, it’s a searing tragedy and what moves me most is the mother-son relationship and the final confrontation – that could be about all of us.
“It’s a universal piece but it’s lack of user-friendliness is the perception of it being textually difficult, which in a way is correct. The play itself isn’t easy but I felt if you could strip away the most knotty and complex language you could be left with quite a strong narrative drive that could touch on so many political, social and familial things that are always relevant.”
As for the current setting, Ralph insists such a move helps both the audience and, in some cases, the actors.
He added: “With any Shakespeare you have to decide on the world you’re making.
“I’ve been in lots of stage productions where the director says ‘this is the world’ and at times you can feel it’s coherent while others aren’t. I like modern dress Shakespeare. People always comment about mobile phones and tech and find that odd in such a setting, but I feel Shakespearean characters are still here today be it in family, government.
“These touches are a way in for people by letting them recognise their world. It’s giving it accessibility.
“I often think another flow of communicative energy is when actors adjust a tie or light up a cigarette or do up a zipper – these behavioural things help an actor think ‘this isn’t Shakespeare, where I have to sound funny. It’s just the way I speak while having a conversation in a bar’.
“Some people did ask if I’d re-write the dialogue, but I carry a flag that actually your ear can adjust and it will become accessible. But I completely accept for some people it will be a challenge.
“With John Logan (screenplay writer) we decided to commit to the language and people will either love it or hate it.”
A stellar cast helps provide extra depth, as it it was needed given the subject matter, and Fiennes admits he was lucky when it came to casting for the main roles.
He said: “I was lucky – people wanted to come and get on board. Vanessa (Redgrave) was my first choice to play Volumnia while Brian Cox loved it as did Gerry.
“I have a huge respect for Gerry – I love his performance in this. It’s very centred and quite understated. There’s a real sort of gravitas and male charisma.
“When he uses his raging war-machine qualities sparingly he’s more potent for it. He was wonderful to work with.”
And what about Jessica Chastain, who has been receiving rave review for her performances in Take Shelter, The Help and Tree of Life?
Fiennes says: “At the time, none of her films had been released but when I met her I had a very strong instinct that she would be great as Virgilia. She has a translucence about her.
“Virgilia is the one character who carries some kind of compassion in her heart
“I think it’s deliberate that Shakespeare makes her silent. In this world he has written, the woman who has compassion has no voice. She’s silenced by the madness around her.”
Having been the star in front of the camera, Ralph insists the transition to director (whilst still performing in the movie) felt like the natural progression.
He revealed: “The experience was hyper-intense and highly-adrenalised but was fantastic working with Barry Ackroyd (cinematographer) and Ricky Eyres (production design).
“My confidence grew a little day by day as we got our scenes. My editor would tell me I was getting good stuff.
“It’s definitely a bigger discipline behind the camera but I loved the interaction and collaboration being there. It helped that I had a strong idea of what I was looking for. As an actor, I like it if a director has a gameplan.
“This is something I’ve been moving towards for a while. I had been approached by a producer to do a film that didn’t work out. But the process of working towards that film gave me confidence to think of Coriolanus.
“Some people did think ‘is this a mad vanity project for this actor?’, but I felt a real determination to do it. You only have one life and the worst that can happen is that it doesn’t get made or it does and it’s no good. But to not have attempted it I would have felt I had missed the boat, so I just went for it.
“It has given me a taste to do more. I was lucky I had a good time and it made me want to do it again.”
And he insists the films that would attract him as a director would be human drama. He added: “Relationships between people and how they affect each other interest me. I wouldn’t know what to do with an action or a rom-com. The journey of someone’s life or relationship between people are more interesting to me.”
It’s certainly been a long and varied journey for Ralph, covering a plethora of genres and memorable characters.
Was there a specific point, as a youngster, when he realised he had a passion for acting? Fiennes said: “I probably felt I had half a spark but I didn’t consciously think I’d be an actor until I was in art school. I did a foundation course in London and that gave me a clarity that’s what I wanted to do.
“I wanted to act for the sake of acting – my ambition wents as far as being in the Royal Shakespeare Company. I thought film happened to a few lucky people but didn’t think I’d be one of them.
“Thankfully, my parents were completely supportive with my mother leading it. She almost sensed I had found the thing I wanted to do. She could feel it so she was very supportive.”
As previously stated, Fiennes has played the evil Lord Voldemort in four of the Harry Potter films, and he admits it was the tenacity of the casting directing, Mary Selway, that helped seal the deal.
He explained: “I was approached but didn’t really know the franchise and hadn’t read the books – I was kind of ignorant about it. It was only because I have nieces and nephews who said I must do it.
“Also, Mary – a wonderful woman and incredibly tenacious casting-director just wouldn’t stop.
“I have no regrets. I enjoyed the first one in which I starred. The second, I wasn’t so sure I enjoyed making it at the time but I loved the last two.
“The part of Voldemort was fantastic and I loved the way director David Yates pulled it together. It would be an exaggeration to say I was sad to see the franchise come to an end, I think everyone felt it had come to its natural conclusion and it couldn’t really be strung out much longer.
“”Initially my nieces and nephews were excited and impressed to come to the set, but then they grew up and became typical teenagers.”
Next up for Fiennes he will play Magwitch in Mike Newell’s adaptation of Great Expectations. He’ll then reprise the role of Hades in Jonathan Liebesman’s Wrath of the Titans, which he is excited about.
Ralph revealed: “The studio wanted this to be the better film (than Clash) – there’s a lot more to what is really a gods and monsters epic.
“Director Jonathan Liebesman came with a great determination that myself as Hades and Liam Neeson (Zeus) should have a parallel story to Sam Worthington‘s adventure as Perseus. Our brotherly relationship has much more detail and a sense of progression and I have every hope it will be a strong entertaining film.”
And after that? The small issue of starring in the next James Bond film – Skyfall. “I can’t really elaborate on my small part in it…”, he teases.
I guess we’ll just have to keep our ear to the ground and hope more information is revealed.
Coriolanus is released in UK cinemas on January 20.
