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Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes
	Fiennes in 2018
Born	Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes; 27 May 1970 (age 54); Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Education	Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	María Dolores Diéguez (m. 2009)
Children	2
Parents	Mark Fiennes (father); Jennifer Lash (mother);
Relatives	Ralph Fiennes (brother); Jacob Fiennes (twin brother); Martha Fiennes (sister); Magnus Fiennes (brother); Sophie Fiennes (sister); Hero Fiennes Tiffin (nephew); Ranulph Fiennes (third cousin, once removed)

Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes^[a]^[1] (/faɪnz/; born 27 May 1970),^[2] known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Fiennes is particularly known for his versatility and period pieces. Journalist Zoe Williams observed that "he seemed to be the go-to actor for English cultural history".^[3] His numerous accolades include one Screen Actors Guild Award and nomination for a British Academy Film Award.

He is known for his portrayals of William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love (1998), for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Sir Robert Dudley in Elizabeth (1998), Commisar Danilov in Enemy at the Gates (2001), Martin Luther in Luther (2003), and Monsignor Timothy Howard in the second season of the TV series American Horror Story (2012–2013). His performance as Commander Fred Waterford in the TV series The Handmaid's Tale (2017–2021) was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2018.

Early life, family and education

Fiennes was born in 1970 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, the son of Mark Fiennes (1933–2004), a farmer and photographer, and Jennifer Lash (1938–1993), a writer.^[4] He has Irish-British ancestry.^[5]^[6]

His siblings are actor Ralph Fiennes; directors Martha Fiennes and Sophie Fiennes; composer Magnus Fiennes; and conservationist Jacob Fiennes, Joseph's twin brother. His foster brother, Michael Emery, is an archaeologist. His nephew Hero Fiennes Tiffin played Tom Riddle, young Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. His cousin is Sir Ranulph (Ran) Fiennes, a decorated English explorer.^[7]

Fiennes was briefly educated in the Republic of Ireland, then at Swan School For Boys and Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. He then attended art school in Suffolk for a year, before joining the Young Vic Youth Theatre. Fiennes subsequently trained for three years at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1993.^[8]

Career

Stage and film

Fiennes' first professional stage appearance was in the West End in The Woman in Black, followed by A Month in the Country. He then became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for two seasons.

He made his television debut as Willy in the 1995 television film adaptation of The Vacillations of Poppy Carew. His first feature film was 1996's Stealing Beauty. In 1998, Fiennes appeared in two films that were nominated at the Academy Awards: he played Robert Dudley in Elizabeth and he portrayed William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, receiving nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role^[9] and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.^[10] He appeared in Running with Scissors (2006).

In 2001, Fiennes appeared in the film Enemy at the Gates. In 2002, he starred in the independent film, Killing Me Softly.

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. Fiennes returned to the theatre in 2006 to perform in the one-man play Unicorns, Almost about World War II poet Keith Douglas at the Old Vic.

In 2006, he appeared in the films The Darwin Awards and Goodbye Bafana. Goodbye Bafana. Fiennes portrayed James Gregory, author of the book Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend.

In 2023, he appeared in the play Dear England, portraying the England football manager Gareth Southgate.

Television

Fiennes starred in the ABC science fiction series FlashForward, which debuted on 24 September 2009 and ran through 27 May 2010, as Mark Benford.^[11] He starred in Starz's 10-part series, Camelot, as the wizard Merlin.^[12]

In the second season of American Horror Story, which premiered in October 2012, Fiennes played the role of Monsignor Timothy Howard. From 2017 to 2021, Fiennes starred on the Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale as Commander Fred Waterford.

Personal life

In August 2009 Fiennes married María Dolores Diéguez, a Swiss model of Spanish/Galician origin, in a Roman Catholic ceremony in Tuscany. They have two daughters named Eva and Isabel.^[13] The family reside in Mallorca, Spain near Palma.^[14]^[15]

Charity work

Fiennes was one of the celebrities to design and sign his own card for the UK-based charity Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. The cards were auctioned on eBay in May 2014.^[16]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	The Vacillations of Poppy Carew	Willy	Television film
1996	Stealing Beauty	Christopher Fox
1998	Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence	Laurence	Released as The Very Thought of You in the US
	Elizabeth	Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
	Shakespeare in Love	William Shakespeare
1999	Forever Mine	Manuel Esquema/Alan Riply
2000	Rancid Aluminum	Sean Deeny
2001	Enemy at the Gates	Commisar Danilov
2001	Dust	Elijah
2002	Leo	Stephen
2002	Killing Me Softly	Adam Tallis
2003	Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	Proteus	Voice role
2003	Luther	Martin Luther
2004	The Merchant of Venice	Bassanio
2005	The Great Raid	Major Gibson
2005	Man to Man	Jamie Dodd
2006	Running with Scissors	Neil Bookman
2006	The Darwin Awards	Michael Burrows
2007	Goodbye Bafana	James Gregory
2008	The Escapist	Lenny Drake
	The Red Baron	Arthur Roy Brown
	You Me and Captain Longbridge	Narrator
	Spring 1941	Artur Planck
2009	Against the Current	Paul Thompson
2014	The Games Maker	Morodian
2014	Hercules	King Eurystheus
2015	Strangerland	Matthew Parker
2015	Psy	American man
2016	Risen	Clavius
2016	On Wings of Eagles (The Last Race)	Eric Liddell
2023	The Mother	Adrian Lovell
TBA	The Way of the Wind	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Pretty/Handsome	Bob Fitzpayne	Unsold TV pilot
2009–10	FlashForward	Mark Benford	22 episodes
2011	Camelot	Merlin	10 episodes
2012–13	American Horror Story: Asylum	Monsignor Timothy Howard	10 episodes
2017	Urban Myths	Michael Jackson	Episode: "Elizabeth, Michael, and Marlon"
2017–2021	The Handmaid's Tale	Commander Fred Waterford	36 episodes
2019	Fiennes: Return to the Nile^†	Himself	3 episodes
2019	Sherwood	Sheriff Nottingham (voice)	6 episodes
2024	Royal Kill List	Himself	3 episodes
2024	Fiennes Return To The Wild	Himself	Two-part documentary; also features Sir Ranulph Fiennes^[17]
TBA	Dear England	Gareth Southgate	Four-part drama^[18]
TBA	Young Sherlock	Silas Holmes	Filming

† released in U.S. as Egypt with the World's Greatest Explorer by the National Geographic.

Theatre

The Woman in Black, Fortune Theatre London (1993)
A Month in the Country, Belyaev, Guildford, Richmond and the Albery Theatre London (1994)
A View from the Bridge, Rodolpho, Guildford, Bristol Old Vic, Strand Theatre London (1995)
Son Of Man, Jesus Christ, Royal Shakespeare Company, London (1996)||(1997)
Les Enfants du Paradis, Lacenaire, Royal Shakespeare Company, London (1996)
Troilus and Cressida, Troilus, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Upon Avon and London (1996)||(1997)
The Herbal Bed, Rafe Smith, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Upon Avon and London (1996)||(1997)
As You Like It, Silvius, Royal Shakespeare Company, London (1997)
Real Classy Affair, Billy, Royal Court Theatre Company, London (1998)
Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, Edward II, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield (2001)
War Poet's Reading, Apollo Theatre (2001)
Othello, Iago, West End, London (2002)
Love's Labour's Lost, Berowne, Royal National Theatre, London (2003)
Epitaph for George Dillon, George Dillon, Royal National Theatre, London (2005)||(2006)
2,000 Feet Away, Deputy, Bush Theatre, London (2008)
Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano, Chichester Festival Theatre (2009)
Ross, T. E. Lawrence, Chichester Festival Theatre (2016)
Dear England, Gareth Southgate, Royal National Theatre, London (2023)

Spoken word

2002 – contributed to the compilation album, When Love Speaks, which consists of Shakespearean sonnets and play excerpts – "Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises" and "Our revels are now ended" (both from The Tempest)
2010 – starred in a series of readings of literary love scenes for The Carte Noire Readers.
Joseph Fiennes reads Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Joseph Fiennes reads The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1998	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards	Most Promising Actor	Shakespeare in Love	Won
1999	BAFTA Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role		Nominated
	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Male Newcomer		Won
	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Breakthrough Artist	Elizabeth	Won
	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Breakthrough Artist	Shakespeare in Love	Won
	Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Most Promising Actor		Won
	MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Male Performance		Nominated
	MTV Movie Awards	Best Kiss (with Gwyneth Paltrow)		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role		Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Sexiest Love Scene (with Gwyneth Paltrow)		Nominated
2005	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	The Merchant of Venice	Nominated
2008	Cinema for Peace	Best Short Film^[19]	The Spirit	Won
2018	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The Handmaid's Tale	Nominated
2018	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
2019	MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Villain		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2020				Nominated
2022				Nominated
2024	WhatsOnStage Awards	Best Performer in a Play^[20]	Dear England	Nominated
2024	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actor	Dear England	Pending