Age: 63
male
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (born 22 December 1962) is an British-American actor, film producer, and director. He has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, Fiennes was trained at and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1985. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before succeeding at the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1995, Fiennes made his Broadway debut playing Prince Hamlet in the revival of the William Shakespeare play Hamlet, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He was later Tony-nominated for his role as a travelling faith healer in the Brian Friel play Faith Healer (2006). Fiennes made his film debut playing Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992). He has earned three Academy Award nominations for his performances in the films Schindler's List (1993), The English Patient (1996), and Conclave (2024). He has also acted in Quiz Show (1994), Maid in Manhattan (2002), The Constant Gardener (2005), In Bruges (2008), The Reader (2008), The Duchess (2008), The Hurt Locker (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), A Bigger Splash (2015), Hail, Caesar! (2016), and The Menu (2022). Fiennes gained wider recognition for playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series (2005–2011) and Gareth Mallory / M in the James Bond films (2012–2021); and has voiced roles in the animated films The Prince of Egypt (1998), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). He directed and starred in the films Coriolanus (2011) and The Invisible Woman (2013). Aside from acting, Fiennes has been an ambassador for UNICEF UK since 1999.
Ralph Fiennes
Prof. Pierre Aronnax
for Prof. Pierre Aronnax in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Suggested by kipwalker
In 1868, rumors of a sea monster attacking ships in the Pacific Ocean have disrupted shipping lanes. The United States invites Professor Pierre M. Aronnax and his assistant, Conseil, onto a Navy expedition to prove the monster's existence. On board with them is the cocky master harpooner Ned Land. After months of searching, the "monster" is spotted shortly before it rams the warship. Ned and Aronnax are thrown overboard, and Conseil goes in after Aronnax. Now helpless, the frigate drifts away, and no one aboard responds to the overboard passengers. The three find a strange-looking metal vessel, and realize the "monster" is a man-made "submerging boat" that appears deserted. Aronnax finds a large viewport and witnesses an underwater funeral. Ned, Aronnax, and Conseil attempt to leave in their lifeboat, but the submarine crew stops the castaways. The captain introduces himself as Nemo, master of the Nautilus. He returns Ned and Conseil to the deck while offering Aronnax, whom he recognizes for his work, the chance to stay. After Aronnax proves willing to die with his companions, Nemo allows Ned and Conseil to remain. Nemo takes them to the penal colony island of Rura Penthe. Nemo was a prisoner there, as were many of his crew. The prisoners are loading a munitions ship. The Nautilus rams it, destroying its cargo and killing the crew. An anguished Nemo tells Aronnax that his actions have saved thousands from death in war; he also discloses that this "hated nation" tortured his wife and son to death while attempting to force him to reveal the secrets of his work. Ned discovers the coordinates of Nemo's secret island base, Vulcania, and releases messages in bottles, hoping somebody will find them. Off the coast of New Guinea, the Nautilus becomes stranded on a reef. Ned is surprised when Nemo allows him to go ashore with Conseil, ostensibly to collect specimens, while strictly admonishing them to stay on the beach. Ned goes off alone to explore avenues of escape. While drinking from a pool, he sees human skulls on stakes. Ned runs for his life and rejoins Conseil, and they row away, pursued by cannibals. Aboard ship, the cannibals are repelled by electrical charges through its hull. Nemo is furious with Ned for disobeying his orders, confining him to the brig. A warship approaches, firing upon Nautilus, which descends into the depths, where it attracts a giant squid. After a similar electric charge fails to repel the monster, Nemo and his men surface during a storm to dislodge it. Nemo is caught in one of its tentacles. Ned, having escaped from captivity, saves Nemo from drowning. Nemo has a change of heart and claims he wants to make peace with the world. As the Nautilus nears Vulcania, Nemo finds the island surrounded by warships whose marines are converging on his base. As Nemo goes ashore, Ned tries to identify himself as the author of the bottled messages. Aronnax is furious, recognizing that Nemo will destroy all evidence of his discoveries. Nemo enters the base and activates a time bomb, but is mortally wounded on Nautilus's deck from a slug to the back. After navigating the submarine away from Vulcania, Nemo announces he will be "taking the Nautilus down for the last time". The crew declare they will accompany their captain in death. Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned are confined to their cabins. The Nautilus's crew also retreat to their cabins at Nemo's instructions. Ned escapes and manages to surface the Nautilus, hitting a reef in the process and causing the sub to flood. Nemo staggers to his salon viewport, watching his beloved sea as he dies. Aronnax tries retrieving his detailed journal, but the urgency of their escape obliges Ned to knock him unconscious and carry him out. The companions witness Vulcania explode, and Ned apologizes to Aronnax for hitting him. As the Nautilus disappears beneath the waves, Nemo's last words to Aronnax echo: "There is hope for the future. And when the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God's good time".
