Dear England found the perfect actor to play Gareth Southgate: Joseph Fiennes. But did you know that one of his most divisive performances never saw the light of day?
Fiennes first stepped into the role when the Dear England play premiered at London’s National Theatre in 2023, and the resemblance quickly became impossible to ignore. He played Southgate for two years, earning a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor along the way.
Other actors later took over the role during the UK tour, including Gwilym Lee and David Sturzaker, but nobody quite captured Southgate’s mannerisms, presence, or look quite like Fiennes. The drama follows Southgate as he takes charge of the England football team, determined to bring “careful, but radical” change ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
He stars opposite Jodie Whittaker as Dr. Pippa Grange, England’s “penalty guru”. And while the Fiennes surname is instantly recognisable, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Joseph in far more than just Dear England.
When did Joseph Fiennes start acting?
Fiennes began his 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. He later 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 major 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, where he portrayed William Shakespeare alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.
Shakespeare in Love became a huge success, earning Fiennes BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild nominations and cementing his status as one of Britain’s breakout stars.
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 play Protestant reformer Martin Luther. Fiennes later appeared in The Merchant of Venice alongside Al Pacino.
Joseph Fiennes movies and TV shows you should watch
Many viewers will recognise Fiennes from FlashForward, ABC’s sci-fi series in which the entire world blacks out and sees visions of the future.
He later moved into darker roles, including monsignor Timothy Howard in American Horror Story: Asylum.
Of course, for many people, he’ll always be remembered as the chilling Commander Fred Waterford in The Handmaid’s Tale. Despite all the horrifying things his character did in the series, Fiennes once revealed he refused to film one particular 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 has also appeared in Prisoner 951,and Young Sherlock.
Where is Joseph Fiennes from?
Joseph Fiennes, whose full name is Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
While both Fiennes and Southgate are from the south of England, they’re not exactly local to one another. Southgate was born in Watford, roughly 90 miles away from Salisbury.
Fiennes later trained at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, 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, 1970, so happy birthday to him.
That 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 previously competed in Miss Switzerland, since 2009.
The couple share two daughters, Eva and Isabel. They previously lived in Spain 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.
Thankfully, things improved. However, his children may not be thrilled with his strict smartphone rules.
“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 explained.
“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 hugely acclaimed career, with films including Schindler’s List, Harry Potter, and Conclave, Joseph previously admitted he was initially wary about becoming an actor himself.
“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,” he told The Guardian.
“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.”
That clearly didn’t happen. And the wider Fiennes family is full of high achievers too.
His father, Mark Fiennes, was a renowned photographer, while his mother, Jennifer Lash, was a novelist and artist.
He also has four other siblings: Martha Fiennes and Sophie Fiennes, who both work as directors and producers; Magnus Fiennes, a composer who has worked with Pulp and Tom Jones; and Jacob Fiennes, a conservationist.
Joseph Fiennes admitted one role was a “bad call”
In 2017, Joseph Fiennes briefly played Michael Jackson in an episode of Sky Arts’ Urban Myths.
The casting immediately sparked backlash, with viewers accusing the show of whitewashing. Fiennes initially defended the role, describing it as “satire” and a “challenge”.
However, due to the controversy, the episode was ultimately pulled before airing, leaving only promotional images online.
Years later, Fiennes admitted taking the role was “a wrong decision”.
“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
Dear England episodes 1-2 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now. Episodes 3 and 4 arrive on iPlayer on Sunday, May 31.
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