Today I spoke with the venerable Ralph "Don’t call me Ralph" Fiennes, who was in town promoting his new film, The Constant Gardener, based on the John LeCarre novel. Of course Ralph is starring in the next Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as the evil Lord Voldemort, returned to full physical form. And of course I couldn’t resist asking him about the role.
"I wrestled with it for a bit, because I didn’t know much about the world of Harry Potter before," he said when asked what it was about Voldemort that made him want to sign on. "Then after thinking about it for a bit, I thought this is such a full on, meaty villain – baddie. I’ve done more realistic villains, I suppose but nothing in that more fantastical, children’s realm. The dark lord – I hadn’t really done that before. And I liked Mike Newell.
"It was when I saw some pictures that they drew for the look is when I took the bait. It looked really strong. It’s actually – I shouldn’t describe it! – it’s actually quite simple. I just thought, yeah, that looks cool! I’ll do that."
While the series of books hasn’t finished yet, it’s obvious that Voldemort will play a major role in the final novel and thus the final movie. I asked Ralph if he was signed on for the remainder of the series.
"Not all, but I think I’ll be in the next one. I have a big fight with Dumbledore in the next one."