Ralph Fiennes Admits He Was Wrong About His Initial “Snobbish” Attitude Towards ‘Harry Potter’

Ralph Fiennes recently had a long conversation at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival where he started by addressing a common mistake: the pronunciation of his first name. He explained that it’s actually pronounced ‘Rafe,’ not ‘Ralph,’ and shared how his father always corrected people when they said it wrong.

What does that have to do with anything? Well, not much, but it serves as an innuendo for the main topic of this report.

Namely, at the event, Fiennes received the festival’s Outstanding Performer of the Year award, Fiennes mentioned how his career took off after his role in Wuthering Heights caught the attention of Steven Spielberg, leading to his first Oscar nomination for Schindler’s List.

He also opened up about the tough time that came with that success. In 1993, right when the film was gaining recognition, his mother passed away. Fiennes shared how painful that loss was, but also how he feels that his mother is still watching over him.

After that period, he landed some major roles, including The Quiz Show and The English Patient, but younger audiences will probably know him best for his portrayal of Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.

Initially, though, he wasn’t interested in playing the character because he didn’t see the appeal of the franchise. He admitted he had some “misplaced snobbery” about it, not knowing much about the story. But after telling his sister Martha that he’d been offered the role, she convinced him he had to take it, and that was all it took to change his mind.

This proved to be one of the wiser choices of his career, as Fiennes brought Voldemort to the screen in a properly unique way that is now beloved by the fans.

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