Celebrity Biographies
Joseph Fiennes
He was a ‘Shakespearean’ actor long before he became famous for playing the celebrated English writer. And then? Joseph Fiennes promised much more, and though he’s gone flat, he’s made some memorable films.
Born on May 27, 1970 in Salisbury (England), Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes –whose surname he logically prefers to abbreviate– is the son of photographer Mark Fiennes and writer Jennifer Lash. An eighth cousin to the Prince of Wales, he has a twin brother, Jacob, and four others, including the superstar actor Ralph Fiennes ( Schindler’s List ) and the filmmaker Martha Fiennes .
Although he enrolled in Art History at university, he dropped out when he realized that theater was his thing, and ended up taking part in productions at the Young Vic Youth Theatre, and studying acting at the Guildhall School.
In cinema, the great Bernardo Bertolucci was the first to recruit him for the film Stolen Beauty . Right after he surprised with the pleasant British comedy Martha meets Frank, Daniel & Laurence , where he was a guy who told his psychiatrist that both he and his two best friends have fallen in love with the same woman.
He never disassociated himself from the theater, where he used to interpret works by Shakespeare, a writer who he himself would play in the film Shakespeare in Love , a role that made him a great celebrity. He embodied the author as a young man, when a series of events happened to him that inspired him to write “Romeo and Juliet.” He garnered seven Oscars out of a total of 13 nominations, though Fiennes himself didn’t even get to compete.
Joseph Fiennes, who has not returned to have such an impact in the cinema, did not know how to monetize his success. If nothing else, he shined as a supporting role in Enemy at the Gates , where he was a Soviet commissar looking for a hero who elevated a pastor who happened to be an excellent sniper ( Jude Law ). Back to Shakespeare, he was a great Bassanio, in The Merchant of Venice . He was also the Earl of Leicester, in Elizabeth , the lead in the biopic Luther , and he co-starred with Chen Kaige in the disastrous thriller Gently Kills Me .
On television, he failed to succeed with the science fiction series FlashForward , which, although it started well, did not make it past the first season. He has fared better with Camelot (series) , where he plays the famous wizard.
Although he tries to be discreet about his love life, it is known that he has had relationships with various women, including actresses Cate Blanchett and Catherine McCormack . He finally married the Swiss model of Spanish descent María Dolores Diéguez, with whom he has been a father.