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Capone converses with the fiercely charming Ralph Fiennes about IN BRUGES!
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago. Is there anything that Ralph Fiennes
can't do and can't do well? So far, he hasn't given us a poor
performance, even in some of his less-than-stellar films, of which there
are few. But most of the time, he's at the top of his game as one of the
most significant and weighty actors working today. SCHINDLER'S LIST, THE
BABY OF MACON, QUIZ SHOW, STRANGE DAYS, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, SUNSHINE,
THE END OF THE AFFAIR, SPIDER, RED DRAGON, THE CHUMSCRUBBER, THE
CONSTANT GARDENER, the WALLACE AND GROMIT movie, and so far just this
year, HBO's BERNARD AND DORIS and Martin McDonagh's exceptional IN
BRUGES. Oh, and let's not forget his delightfully evil turn as Lord
Voldemort in the last two HARRY POTTER offerings. And wait until you see
what he's got lined up for the next year or so.
My conversation with Fiennes was interesting for many reasons. Although
the interview was arranged (in connection with IN BRUGES opening wider)
by a publicist, he actually called me directly from London, where he's
currently rehearing a play called "God of Carnage," set to open in March.
Since he wasn't in the midst of a proper publicity tour, we actually got
a bit more time to talk. As far as I was aware, we had no time limit at
all, something that happens so infrequently, I'll admit I ran out of
questions at about the half-hour mark. I'd expected someone more shy and
restrained than the man I spoke to. He seems keenly aware of his public
image and the status of his career over the years, and he has a great
sense of humor about all of it. Few actors play villains as convincingly
as Fiennes, and even when he's playing someone more heroic, he infuses
his characters with dark corners that make them seem more vulnerable and
human. With IN BRUGES, he's clearly having fun playing Harry, a crazed
mobster who comes to the small Belgian town to kill a hitman in his
employ who killed the wrong person during a job for him. It's one of the
purest comic performances Fiennes has ever given, and it's one of his
scariest.
Enjoy the hell out of my conversation with Ralph Fiennes…
Capone: Hello?
Ralph Fiennes: Hello. Ralph Fiennes calling.
Capone: I'd expected a publicist's voice, but this will have to do.
RF: [laughs]
Capone: I don't know if you've spoken to [IN BRUGES writer-director]
Martin McDonagh recently, but we did a really fun Q&A thing here in
Chicago a couple of weeks back, and he had some fun stories about
working with you.
RF: Oh really. Did he?
Capone: He did. In fact, he mentioned to me that there was originally
more of a backstory between Harry and the priest.
RF: That's right.
Capone: Was that something that was filmed, or something that was just
in the script? What do you remember when you heard about that history
between them?
RF: Actually, I don't know if it was shot even. [pause to consider] I
guess it must have been shot, and then maybe they just took it out.
Capone: Now that I think about it, any such backstory wouldn't have
involved you in the filming, since it was supposed to be an incident
between the priest and Harry as a young boy.
RF: No, but it was definitely intriguing, and it definitely made you…funnily
enough when I saw the film, I didn't lose any sleep over the fact that
they'd cut it out. But when you read the screenplay, it made you
understand the anger in Harry and his obsession with anyone killing a
child has to shoot himself. It gave him a peculiar moral center of his
own [laughs].
Capone: There are so many contradictions with Harry. He's part common
thug, part sophisticated businessman. He's slightly sociopathic, but he's
got this lovely family. Did you relish in these opposed sides of Harry?
RF: Yeah, I think they're very true of people, not everyone maybe, but I
think most of us have our opposing sides. And I love it when the writing
really shows up different aspects of a character in keen opposition. I
can't explain it, but I can completely buy that there is the family man
and then there's the business side with a set of business principles,
and absolutely he operates by them like a code. I watched that wonderful
British gangster film THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, where you get a sense of
that world with the Bob Hoskins character, where he has his girlfriend
and he has his friends, and then there's the tougher business side.
Capone: I seem to recall that particular film coming up in my discussion
with Martin.
RF: It's not a million miles from what Coppola showed us in THE
GODFATHER, the intense family relationships and affection amongst family,
and then the very ruthless of application of a business code that may
involve killing people.
Capone: You're certainly no stranger to playing these darker parts, but
in looking through a list of the films you have been in over the years,
even when you play less villainous characters, you seem to find that
dark center to people you portray. Is that something you seek out, do
you add that, or is that just a part of you?
RF: I think probably I always ask myself "What else is going on here?",
if I can. I think good writing will make you ask those questions. It
might even be that the writer hasn't even thought of it, but it's just
there. I'm doing this play at the moment about two couples who meet to
discuss why one of their sons has injured the other son, and then they
collide. But I'm realizing in the writing, there are lot of different
choices you can make about who someone is and play up the contradictions
in people. I feel it when I look around me, and I watch people and hear
conversations. And I even notice in myself massive contradictions and
huge mood swings--from psychopathic frustration with someone to being
very happy to see someone and pour affection in someone's direction. I
think in good writing those contradictions are there. And Martin very
clearly puts them there, but I believe it.
Capone: Martin also mentioned that you had a very good time in what he
said was your first gunfight. Is that true? I know you've fired guns in
films before, but I'm assuming he means in a proper gun battle, running
around shooting at people.
RF: [laughs] I have to confess to a pathetic boyish glee having run down
the street shooting blanks at Colin Farrell. But I could never catch up
with him; he's very, very fast, and I was never a runner, so he outran
me every time.
Capone: I know that Colin and Brendan Gleeson did about three weeks of
rehearsal before shooting began. Were you a part of that?
RF: No. For some reason, I wasn't. Oh, I was in Australia doing
something at the Sydney Festival, so I came in about two weeks into the
shoot. I know that Brendan and Colin had some in-depth rehearsal time
with Martin. I did have some rehearsal time with Martin, but it was
after a shooting day, so it was more like going through scenes in a room
in a hotel.
Capone: There was definitely a time in the mid-1990s where you were on
what seemed like a very particular--some might say predictable--path,
career-wise. You probably could have written your own ticket in
Hollywood and been a leading man in every film you made for as long as
you wanted. And it seemed like you deliberately and admirably shifted
away from that path. You took chances with more untested directors, took
some more interesting supporting parts, and did more experimental films
like SPIDER. Was that deliberate?
RF: I think it was a mix of things. I'll take something because I have a
gut feeling about something. And it could be any number of things that
fuel that. It could be the director; usually it's the script and the
character, but it's just an instinctive feeling. Sometimes I've been
wrong about stuff. But I haven't planned anything. I think there's an
instinct that goes, "Well, I did something like that last time, so maybe
I will look for something in the opposite direction." Sometimes, I've
done things, and people will say…like when I did THE END OF THE AFFAIR,
people said, "Oh, that's a bit like THE ENGLISH PATIENT, isn't it,
another love affair?" I could see that they would say that, but I didn't
feel like it was the same story at all, and I just did it because I love
Graham Greene, I love [director] Neil Jordan, and Julianne Moore was in
it. So it's just a feeling, really. And I love being in a play, and I've
tried to make time to do plays that I wanted to do.
Capone: I guess what I'm wondering was if you ever made the decision not
to go down a certain path toward what might appear to be a certain level
of stardom.
RF: Well, yeah. But there was also a time when I'd done a number of
things that hadn't been huge box offices successes, and you definitely
notice a little chill going on. In that way, I was always glad that I
had theater things happening. I did this double-bill of "Richard II" and
"Coriolanus" about eight years ago, which I loved doing. And each
project has its own little history in my head about why I did it, and
something like SPIDER was something I read quite a long time before I
made it. I love the book by Patrick McGrath, and for a long time I was
attached to it. And there were a few times when I thought it would never
happen, and as soon as David Cronenberg was interested in it, it took
off. And I've done a couple of things recently that haven't done well,
but you read a script and you like it, and I never regret those things,
never.
Capone: Forgive me for saying this, but you do seem like you are so
careful about the scripts that you choose, and I'm still trying to
figure out how you got involved in MAID IN MANHATTAN. There were no dark
corners in that character.
RF: I looked desperately to find the dark side, but I couldn't find it.
[laughs]
Capone: That being said, there are a lot of American's who only know you
from that movie, which makes me cringe.
RF: I know. It's funny meeting different people who have different
tastes. The people who love SPIDER could not understand why I did MAID
IN MANHATTAN. And then there are people, as you say, who see MAID IN
MANHATTAN and nothing else, and they come up to me and say how much they
loved it.
Capone: Of course. And you certainly can't ignore high-profile crowd
pleasers. Speaking of which, all bets are basically off now that you're
a part of the Harry Potter experience. Now, I'll admit I'm not the Harry
Potter reader on our site, but I've enjoyed the movies, especially the
last two. Are you even in THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE?
RF: The one they're shooting now, no, I'm not in it.
Capone: So it's just your nephew that's playing…
RF: My nephew is playing, I think just for a couple of scenes, the
younger Voldemort [Tom Riddle]. I understand that the bulk of the bulk
of the backstory of Voldemort is played by another, slightly older actor
[Frank Dillane].
Capone: And have you signed on for the final film yet?
RF: I have not yet, no.
Capone: Has it been fun seeing yourself rendered serpentine for the two
films your are in?
RF: Yeah, I particularly liked doing the first one. The second one, I
think Voldemort is placed more as a sense in Harry's head, whereas in
the first one I did with Mike Newell directing, there was that fantastic
scene of his rebirth in the graveyard, which I enjoyed doing. I've
enjoyed making the movies, but I was never an avid reader of the books.
It just wasn't something I went towards. When I went to the premiere of
the first one I did, I got a real sense of the extraordinary nature of
it all.
Capone: Were there small children in the audience screaming at the site
of you?
RF: Yes! The volume of people and the noise and excitement; it was a
huge phenomenon, the whole thing is definitely. And I actually think
that the David Yates-directed one, the last one, was particularly good.
I liked the style of it; it was grown up. and had an edge to it, the way
it was shot and lit. It's a franchise that could so easily have not
developed, but I think just filmicly it has been developed, and the
producers have been very smart to keep it alive and present and edgy.
Capone: I actually saw IN BRUGES within a week of seeing BERNARD AND
DORIS, which just premiered on HBO. Between those two films, your range
really comes through. And that's a fascinating character, Bernard
Lafferty. Did that film play in theaters in some parts of the world?
RF: No, no. It never did. We made it for a shoestring hoping it would
get picked up, but it wasn't. But HBO loved it and got really behind it.
I think everyone involved with making it was really thrilled that it's
been so well supported by HBO. It's a character study of two people.
Capone: How do you play a real person that so little is known about? And
how do you portray events that no one was there to chronicle except the
two main characters?
RF: There's not much known. Some of it is just imagination from what you
do know. You just extend it a bit from what you do know. There's a
documentary on Bernard Lafferty that Irish television made, which
actually is quite interesting, with lots of people saying how much he
adored Doris and how she was a mother figure to him. You get the feeling
of this man with an alcohol problem who wanted to devote himself to this
matriarchal figure. There are certain huge inaccuracies. She had lots of
different houses, and they were always flying around. She didn't die on
the East Coast; she died in Los Angeles. But we had to put all those
things to the side for the sake of the drama. I actually loved it
because I felt it was a story about two people who allowed each other to
be their true selves and tolerate each other foibles and frailties. And
he's given permission to be himself by her, and she doesn't judge him as
long as he does his job. It's about not judging people and accepting
people and letting people be who they are.
Capone: Let's talk about a couple of things you've got upcoming. I've
read interviews with you over the years where you've said you've wanted
to work with Kathryn Bigelow again since STRANGE DAYS, and now you have.
What can you tell me about THE HURT LOCKER?
RF: It's about young U.S. soldiers, particularly about a team whose job
it is to defuse IEDs, improvised explosive devices, in Iraq. It was
written by a journalist named Mark Bowl, who spent some time out there
imbedded with U.S. forces. It's a compelling, gripping screenplay, and
she's cast some brilliant young actors in it who are by and large not
well known yet. She wanted to have a few more familiar faces to help the
profile of the movie, and I did two days playing a…I suppose you would
call him a British mercenary; they're now called contractors. But it was
two days in a Jordanian desert, and it was great scene, but it will be
five minutes in the film. I love Kathryn, and we have a strong bond, and
it was great to be with her again.
Capone: And you also have a film with Keira Knightley, THE DUCHESS. You
play the Duke of Devonshire, which I'm guessing required more than two
days work.
RF: [laughs] It's more than five minutes, I hope, unless they've cut me
right down. That's an interesting story based on the life of Georgiana,
the Duchess of Devonshire, who was this extraordinary extroverted,
vivacious woman who set the style in fashion and political in Britain in
the 1780s. Amanda Foreman wrote a book about her about 10 years ago, and
people didn't really know about her until this book came out. I think
the film focuses on the marital life, the dysfunctional marriage, and
her love affair and the Duke's love affair with Georgiana's best friend.
I know it will look extremely handsome, and the production value has not
been short changed. The looks of the dresses and the location and the
rooms and the wigs and the lighting are stunning. I think it's quite a
good story, the story of a marriage really.
Capone: Have you already shot THE READER with Kate Winslet?
RF: I've still got a couple of scenes on that because it's had a few
hiccups. But I will finish this show and go back and finish it in June.
Capone: And I noticed that's an adapted screenplay by David Hare. But no
Bill Nighy in this film; I know that's often his go-to guy for his
plays.
RF: [laughs] Yes, he and Bill Nighy have done many project together over
the years in the theater certainly. THE READER is a well-known book in
Germany. It's about a young boy in the 1950s, a young 16-year-old, who
has a very intense, sexually charged love affair with an older woman.
And it's very short and intense liaison, and then she disappears from
his life very suddenly and abruptly, and it's about how he's affected by
that love affair and what he later learns about her when he's a law
student, which traumatizes him. And it's about the history of that
trauma and the memory of that relationship and how he deals with it. In
the end, the underlying big theme is dealing with the history of the
Holocaust in Germany. Because this girl he had the affair with had been
part of an atrocity working with the SS.
Capone: And your character is?
RF: I'm the grown-up version of the young boy. The structure of the film
is loosely flashback, but that could change. I come into my own during
the last 20 minutes of the film, I suppose.
Capone: Not to simplify, but you're looking at things from the other
side of the Holocaust, as opposed to being a perpetrator of it in
SCHINDLER'S LIST.
RF: Yeah. I'm certainly not playing a Nazi. Quite the opposite.
Capone: SCHINDLER'S LIST certainly wasn't the first film you'd made but
it's certainly the one that pushed you into the spotlight. I remember
you going back to the first "Prime Suspect" season, if you can believe
that. Looking back on it, was it something of a blessing and a curse to
have that be the film for which you were best known for a time?
RF: It was entirely a blessing. It was a wonderful screenplay, a
wonderful film. It was one of the luckiest breaks that any actor could
have in every way. It was all good, as they say. The part was great, and
working with Steven Spielberg was great. I still remember the shooting
days. I made a great friend in Liam Nesson. And I did not asked to play
Nazis afterwards. I wasn't only known as playing Nazis after that.
Capone: Thank you very much for talking with us.
RF: Many thanks for your time.
Capone
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