The (Literal) Ralph Fiennes Cinematic Universe

When you want to win an Oscar, it helps to know people who vote for Oscars. And few have that level of familiarity like Ralph Fiennes. Since he burst into our movie consciousness in the mid-‘90’s with central roles in Schindler’s List, Quiz Show and The English Patient (seriously, did anyone that decade have a better few years?), Fiennes has been a fixture in our film firmament. 

What’s amazing is not just the consistency he’s had, acting regularly for the past 30+ years, quality roles year in and year out. It’s the diversity. One wouldn’t expect a Shakespeare-trained actor with a Tony Award for playing Hamlet under his belt to turn up in franchises like Harry Potter (or romcoms like Maid in Manhattan), Yet there Fiennes has been, lending his robust dramatic and often droll comedic talents in whatever context he lands. Indie roles like The Hurt Locker, espionage spoofs like The King’s Man, even animated pictures such as The Lego Movie series – Fiennes has graced and often won the day in all of them.

Even when Fiennes is playing to debonair British type he’s often undercutting it (The Grand Budapest Hotel’s “You see there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity; indeed that’s what we provide in our own modest, humble. insignificant—oh, fuck it” comes to mind.)

Not surprisingly, Fiennes has been nominated for three Oscars. Surprisingly, he hasn’t won any of them. In fact until this year he hadn’t been nominated since 1997. (Amazingly he hasn’t won a Golden Globe either, going 0 for 7.)

Perhaps it’s the low-key demeanor; perhaps it’s how he all makes it look so effortless. But that Fiennes mantle is as empty as St. Peter’s Square in a thunderstorm.

That Oscar streak could change this year with Conclave, in which Fiennes of course plays Thomas Lawrence, an efficient, buttoned-up cardinal leading the papal conclave as agendas swirl around him. The actor’s performance is layered and subtle enough to land him that elusive statue. But even if it doesn’t, it’s worth cataloging what he’s done, a galaxy of genre planets that he encircles with many movie moons and even more actors. It’s Ralph Fiennes’ solar system. We just live in it.

Oscarola

Many shout to the heavens to win an award. But Fiennes doesn’t need to. Filling his orbit are a host of nominees and winners, all of whom now are part of the Academy that will decide the fate of their north star.

Schindler’s List with Liam Neeson

The Constant Gardener with Rachel Weisz

Quiz Show with John Turturro

Conclave with Isabella Rossellini

Popcorna

You’d think Fiennes only stays in the rarefied air of upscale projects. That would be as misguided as a flat-earther. Loosening that fitted tuxedo, the cosmic wonder shone bright while romancing Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan, shocked diners in The Menu and asked Rasputin if he’s a monk or a ballet dancer in The King’s Man.

Maid in Manhattan with Jennifer Lopez

The Menu with Anya Taylor-Joy

The King’s Man with Djimon Hounsou

Sundancea

Sometimes you want to sprinkle a little stardust on the smaller rocks. For that, the celestial god descends to the indie planet, bossing around hit men in In Bruges, concierging for fellow nominee Adrien Brody in The Grand Budapest Hotel or going rogue in Iraq in The Hurt Locker.

In Bruges with Brendan Gleeson

The Grand Budapest Hotel with Tilda Swinton

The Hurt Locker with Jeremy Renner

Cartoonium

Sometimes you don’t need to be seen — you just want your voice to boom across the cosmos. That’s why Fiennes has taken so many animated roles, as the rich guy tormenting Wallace and Gromit, enslaving people in The Prince of Egypt and butlering Bruce in The Lego Movie series, all alongside some of the biggest voice actors of our eon.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were- Rabbit with Helena Bonham Carter

The Prince of Egypt with Danny Glover and Helen Mirren

The Lego Movie with Will Arnett

Theatricum

Theater is the oxygen of Suffolk, England’s own Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes. That’s why he’s played so many of the Bard’s roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company and won a Tony on Broadway for Hamlet. Awards meteor-showered down on him for playing Francis Hardy in Faith Healer, whose stages he graced on both sides of the earthly Atlantic.

Hamlet on Broadway with Francesca Annis

Faith Healer on Broadway with Cherry Jones

Stratford-Upon-Avon’s King Lear with Sally Dexter

Franchisa

Dominating a galaxy takes talent. It also takes money. For that, there are box office blockbusters. Fiennes has known a few. He’s starred in three James Bond films, two of them as M, and all those Harry Potter films as Lord Voldemort, including Deathly Hallows 2, which grossed $1.3 billion throughout Earth. Only Fiennes can live forever.

Harry Potter films with Daniel Radcliffe

James Bond movies with Daniel Craig

This story appeared in the Jan. 29 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.