Joseph Fiennes

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Joseph Fiennes

Joseph Fiennes in London, 2005
Born Joseph Alberic Fiennes
May 27, 1970 (1970-05-27) (age 38)
Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Years active 1993 - present

Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (pronounced /ˈfaɪnz/ "fines"; born May 27, 1970) is an Screen Actors Guild award-winning English film and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayals of Will Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love and Sir Robert Dudley in Elizabeth.

Contents

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Family

Fiennes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, the son of novelist Jennifer Lash and photographer Mark Fiennes. The youngest of six siblings, he was raised in West Cork, Ireland. He is the brother of actor Ralph Fiennes, film makers Sophie Fiennes and Martha Fiennes, composer Magnus Fiennes and, his twin, Jacob Fiennes, a conservationist. His foster brother, Michael Emery, is an archaeologist. He is a cousin of Sir Ranulph Fiennes and eighth cousin of HRH, the Prince of Wales.

[edit] Charities

An avid philanthropist, Fiennes is involved with several charities, focusing mainly on the elimination of poverty and fund raising for breast cancer research. Fiennes traveled to Angola in 2003 to highlight the work of the Christian Aid charity.

He helped raise funds for the organization by presenting a three part report for BBC News the same year. He is also an ambassador for the Prince's Trust.

[edit] Career

After leaving art school, he worked with the Young Vic Youth Theatre. He continued his training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His first professional stage appearance was in the West End in The Woman in Black, followed by A Month in the Country opposite Helen Mirren. Fiennes, then, was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for two seasons.

He made his television debut as Willy in The Vacillations of Poppy Carew. His first feature film was 1996's Stealing Beauty, co-starring Liv Tyler. In 1998, Fiennes appeared in two films that were nominated at the Academy Awards: he played Robert Dudley opposite Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth and he also portrayed William Shakespeare opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in his most popular film to date Shakespeare in Love, which won the award for Best Picture. Following the success of Shakespeare in Love, Fiennes turned down a 5 picture deal from a major studio and withdrew from mainstream cinema. Instead he chose to return to the theatre. He remains highly selective of his work and has famously turned down major film productions in order to appear on stage.

Fiennes has also worked in other mediums. In 2003 he lent his voice as Proteus in the DreamWorks animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas opposite Brad Pitt. The same year he starred in the limited-release film Luther, playing Martin Luther, and he also appeared in The Merchant of Venice , in which he portrayed Bassanio.

In 2006, he appeared in The Darwin Awards opposite Winona Ryder, and in Running With Scissors, once again teaming him up with Gwyneth Paltrow. Fiennes will return to the theatre again this year in the one-man play Unicorns, Almost about World War II poet Keith Douglas at the Old Vic .

In Spring 2006, he was in South Africa filming Goodbye Bafana with director Bille August.The film was released in 2007. Fiennes portrayed James Gregory, author of the book Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend.

In October, 2007, it was announced that Fiennes will star in a new FX series to begin shooting at the end of October. Fiennes will play Bob, a married man with two kids, who will eventually realize he's a transsexual. Fiennes is set to co-star opposite Blythe Danner and Robert Wagner.

He was also offered a role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but turned it down.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Films

[edit] Plays

[edit] Awards

[edit] Won

[edit] Nominations

[edit] External links

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