Born in Suffolk, Fiennes originally wanted to be a painter until enrolling
at the Chelsea College of Art and Design before later attending RADA for three
years to study acting. Following graduation, he joined the Royal National Theatre
and became part of the Royal Shakespeare Company a year later.
Fiennes made his film debut opposite Juliette Binoche in Wuthering
Heights (1992). He became known to a wider audience when he appeared
in Steven Spielberg's epic Schindler's List (1993) as the psychotic
Nazi camp commandant Amon Goeth. He revisited World War II years later
in Anthony Minghella's Oscar-winning
adaptation of The
English Patient (1996). Fiennes played John Steed in the film version
of the popular 1960s TV series The Avengers (1998); the film was poorly
received by the public and lambasted by critics. In The
End of the Affair (1999), he portrayed a novelist embroiled in an
adulterous affair in wartime London. He scored a minor success as Charles
Van Doren, a central figure in the TV game show rigging scandals in
Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994). In Red Dragon (2002), he played the
tattooed serial killer Francis Dolarhyde pursued with the help of Dr.
Hannibal Lecter. More recently he has appeared as the love interest
opposite Jennifer Lopez in fairy-tale romance Maid in Manhattan (2002).
