Joseph Fiennes: Dear England star’s five famous siblings, his infamous TV villain & his biggest “mistake”
Fiennes refused to do one scene because it went too far
Dear England managed to find an actor uncannily similar to Gareth Southgate: Joseph Fiennes.
Fiennes made his acting debut as the ex-manager when the Dear England play first launched in London’s National Theatre in 2023. He held the role for two years, earning a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor. Other stars stepped in as the play toured the UK (namely Gwilym Lee and David Sturzaker), but nobody captured Southgate’s essence (and, to be frank, appearance) better.
The show follows Fiennes’ Southgate as he takes control of the England football team, hoping to introduce “careful, but radical” change ahead of the 2018 World Cup. He stars alongside Jodie Whittaker as Dr. Pippa Grange, the team’s “penalty guru”.
Fiennes’ name is instantly recognisable (particularly his surname), and you’ve definitely seen him in other shows and movies before.
When did Joseph Fiennes start acting?
Fiennes began his acting career on stage, making his professional debut in the West End production of The Woman in Black before appearing in A Month in the Country. Not long after, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he spent two seasons performing in theatre productions.
His first TV role came in 1995, when he appeared as Willy in The Vacillations of Poppy Carew. A year later, he made his feature film debut in Stealing Beauty.
However, 1998 proved to be the real turning point in his career. Fiennes starred in two Oscar-nominated films that year: Elizabeth, where he played Robert Dudley opposite Cate Blanchett, and Shakespeare in Love, in which he took on the role of William Shakespeare alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.
Shakespeare in Love was a major success, earning Fiennes BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild nominations and firmly establishing him as one of Britain’s breakout actors.
Don't miss a single story! Add us as a Preferred Source in Google for all your television news
Over the following years, he continued building a varied film career. In 2001, he starred in the World War II thriller Enemy at the Gates, before leading erotic thriller Killing Me Softly in 2002.
He also voiced Proteus in DreamWorks animated movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas opposite Brad Pitt, while 2003’s Luther saw him take on the role of Protestant reformer Martin Luther.
Fiennes later appeared in The Merchant of Venice, playing Bassanio alongside Al Pacino’s Shylock.
Joseph Fiennes movies and TV shows you should watch
Audiences may remember Fiennes from his role in the short-lived FlashForward, ABC’s sci-fi series in which the entire world suffered a blackout and saw visions of their future.
This led to some darker, more notable roles, including a part in American Horror Story: Asylum, where he played monsignor Timothy Howard.
Of course, he’ll be instantly clocked by The Handmaid’s Tale, given his performance as the creepy, horrifyingly complicit Commander Fred Waterford. However, despite all the other depraved things his character did on the show, he objected to one rape scene.
“I had to go out on a limb and refuse to do it, because I felt that even though Fred is who he is, he’s human,” he told EW.
Fiennes also starred in Sherwood (not that one!), Prisoner 951, and Young Sherlock.
Where is he from?
Joseph Fiennes (born Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes) was born in Salisbury, in the southern county of Wiltshire in England.
While Fiennes and Southgate are both from the south of England, it’d be disingenuous to draw too much of a line between where they’re from. Southgate was born in Watford, 90 miles away from Salisbury.
He trained to be an actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduating in 1993.
How old is Joseph Fiennes?
At the time of writing, Joseph Fiennes is 56 years old. He was born on May 27, 1960 (so, happy birthday!).
This means he shares a birthday with Christopher Lee, Jamie Oliver, Paul Bettany, and Richard Schiff.
Is Joseph Fiennes married?
Joseph Fiennes has been married to María Dolores Diéguez, a Swiss model and photographer who competed in Miss Switzerland, since 2009. They have two daughters together, Eva and Isabel.
They lived in Spain for a while, before moving to London. “Within a week of arriving, my wife was mugged, her phone was stolen, my car was taken, the flat we bought went down by 14%, and the kids said, ‘Dad, what are we doing here? It’s raining every day,'” he told The Times.
However, despite those teething issues, his children have grown to love London. They may not like his attitudes to smartphones, though.
“I’m probably thought of as a dinosaur. And I don’t get any favours at home for being very draconian about it – you don’t take it to the bedroom; you don’t use it after supper,” he said.
“There are absolutely stringent rules. It is a day-to-day battle and very stressful.”
Is Joseph Fiennes related to Ralph Fiennes?
Yes! Ralph Fiennes is Joseph Fiennes’ brother.
Given Ralph’s revered, decorated career (Schindler’s List, Harry Potter, Conclave, to name a small few), his brother was wary about becoming an actor.
“I knew that it was right and I knew that it was what I wanted, but it was hard to make the commitment. I didn’t want to move in on Ralph. The worst thing that I can imagine was that I’d be a terrible actor and that I would end up embarrassing him all the time,” he told The Guardian.
Of course, that didn’t come to pass. However, Fiennes’ wider family have accomplishments worth mentioning.
Firstly, his father, Mark Fiennes, was a world-renowned photographer. His mother, Jennifer Lash, was a novelist and artist.
He has four other siblings: Martha Fiennes and Sophie Fiennes, both of whom are directors and producers; Magnus Fiennes, a composer who’s worked with Pulp and Tom Jones, and had his music on Death in Paradise; and Jacob Fiennes, a conservationist.
Joseph Fiennes admits one role was a ‘bad call’
In 2017, Joseph Fiennes briefly played Michael Jackson in an episode of Sky Arts’ Urban Myths.
It initially sparked backlash, with viewers accusing the show (and Fiennes) of whitewashing. The star defended himself (at first), calling it a “challenge” and a “satire”.
Due to the controversy, the episode never aired, with only a screenshot of his performance left online.
In 2023, he admitted that “it was a wrong decision” to take the part.
“I’m one part of that — there are producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, all involved in these decisions,” he told The Guardian.
“[It] came at a time where there was a movement and a shift and that was good, and it was, you know, a bad call. A bad mistake.”
Read more: The best BBC dramas on iPlayer now
