Fiennes, Joseph (1970– )

English stage and screen actor. Fiennes shot to international stardom in 1998, appearing in two very different films set in Elizabethan England: the romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love and the bloody, Jacobean-style tragedy, Elizabeth. He rapidly established himself as an accomplished leading player with these two roles, going on to feature in Forever Mine (1999), Rancid Aluminium (1999), Enemy at the Gates (2001), and The Merchant of Venice (2004).

Fiennes was born in Salisbury, England, and raised in West Cork, Ireland. After leaving art school, he worked with the Young Vic Youth Theatre before receiving a formal theatrical training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He made his West End debut in The Woman in Black, later joining the Royal Shakespeare Company. His other plays include A Month in the Country, Son of Man, Les Enfants du Paradis, Troilus and Cressida, and The Herbal Garden. Fiennes made his film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (1996), and has also starred in Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (1998). His brother is fellow actor Ralph Fiennes.