A biography for Joseph Fienneshasn’t been written yet.
“I was thrust, excitingly, via 'Elizabeth' and 'Shakespeare in Love,' into a position one can only dream of, but it was startling, too. I was offered a multitude of roles riding horses in flouncy shirts, and I just thought, 'Hang on, I've just done that. What next?'”
“I've got a vendetta to destroy the Net, to make everyone go to the library. I love the organic thing of pen and paper, ink on canvas. I love going down to the library, the feel and smell of books.”
“What I love about my work is that I'm forced to look through my character's eyes.”
“I love new writing, new blood, modern works by unknown writers.”
“I fall in love with contradictions without understanding. I can't really portray them unless I do. So in a roundabout way I have to fall in love, it's my duty. If love is about understanding and understanding is compassion and compassion is love, I have to have compassion towards the world.”
“I love travelling. I love cultures.”
“It all felt like a terribly long time. It would have meant that I had to make five movies in five years and if you don't like the movies, too bad. I guess I just wanted my freedom, and I think my life has been incredibly enhanced as a result.”
“I meet people in my business who have this extraordinary ability to understand human nature in their work, but in real life, they don't seem to have the first clue.”
“I never went into acting to do film. I went into it to do theatre - classical roles.”
“I think everything I do is my early work. I can't wait to get on to the later stuff.”
“At home, our parents never compared us. I mean, there were seven of us kids. Obviously, I always looked up to my brother and his work, and I have nothing but utter respect. But I never felt we were in competition.”
“Doubt is crucial, I think, in every character I have ever played.”
“I am a twin, but my brother and I aren't identical, so it's not such a big deal. But when you share bunk beds and birthdays and a womb with someone, you have a special connection. It definitely feels different from the relationship I have with my other siblings - my twin and I are more connected. Jacob is a conservationist.”
“Working backstage as a teenager made me realise there's not much glamour in this profession - just lots of hard work. That's a good thing to learn early on.”
“I was baptised a Catholic and, although I'm not a churchgoer now, I do have a strong sense of the integrity of doing what you believe to be true.”
“I love life. I'm fascinated by human behavior because that feeds back into my work.”
“I want my daughters to live in a world where there is equality and parity of pay.”
“Film is not as exhilarating, not as physically, mentally, or spiritually challenging, as theatre.”
“I love to read profiles about people, but I'm interested in their processes. I only ever do them for newspapers that I love.”
“But it's a strange thing when people judge you because you're not doing some big Hollywood film. Are you suggesting I should be in 'The Dukes of Hazzard?' I mean, hello?”