Ralph Fiennes Michael Doherty meets the award-winning actor and director

Michael Doherty chats to Ralph Fiennes about his latest directorial effort, The White Crow, a powerful portrait of legendary ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev

Whether choosing an acting role or deciding which project to direct, Ralph Fiennes has never been one to take the soft option. Take his directorial choices: When the awardwinning actor first got behind the camera, it was for a Shakespeare adaptation. But it wasn’t one of the meaty tragedies or the popular comedies; it was the much less audience-friendly (I know; I did it for my Leaving Cert) Coriolanus. His next directorial outing was The Invisible Woman (2013); a dark story of the relationship between the elder Charles Dickens (played by Fiennes himself) and his young mistress (Felicity Jones). For his third outing as director, the story of Russian ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev’s defection to the west, Fiennes has again avoided any soft options; casting an unknown in the lead role and shooting the story primarily in the Russian language across three European locations. “It has taken a long time for The White Crow to get to this point of release,” says Ralph, settling into his seat in a Dublin hotel, “but I’m proud of it and happy to talk about it!”

Michael Doherty: Rudolf Nureyev has always been a fascinating character but was it his story in general, or Julie Kavanagh’s biography in particular, that drew you to the project?

Ralph Fiennes: It was really down to Julie Kavanagh sending me the first six chapters of her biography, which hadn’t yet been published. She recently told me she thought I would I pass it on to Anthony Minghella. I have no memory of that! I read it and thought ‘F*ck, this is an amazing story for a film.’ It seemed to contain so many elements – an artistic sense of vocation, self-realisation and the Cold War ideological conflict; plus there were themes of friendship and loyalty. It was amazing that this dancer should have such a huge impact on Western ballet following a series of tiny little moments at Le Bourget airport [where Nuryevev officially defected]. At that time, I had no conscious desire to direct, but my producer Gabbie [Tana] pushed me into doing it, saying that she thought she could make it possible. That’s the sort of producer you want!

When you sat down with screenwriter David Hare, what did you want from him in terms of the narrative?

I was very clear that it should culminate at Le Bourget. I had no sense that the story continued beyond that. It’s about looking at what happened to him as a boy and as a student and a relationship with Pushkin, his teacher, and Pushkin’s wife and also his romantic relationship with a fellow student. David is very good at writing characters that have sharp elbows of ego and personality. I didn’t want to shy away from the sort of outrageousness of Nureyev as a character.

That was particularly interesting at a time when so many movies are written with a sympathetic central protagonist ...

That was a real bugbear for both David and I, this likability factor. As I said to David, I like Nurevey! Every time he’s vile, I laugh. I know it’s horrible but it’s honest and truthful and it’s like a current of energy. You have to put away your judgment. Sometimes you just think, ‘Wow that’s so f*cking awful, it’s sort of wild.’ You get the full spectrum of behaviour with him. There’s a catalogue of sh*tty, terrible things but there’s also a sort of vulnerability to him. If you can imagine where he’s come from and had to fight so hard, there’s a will there which I find completely hypnotic, compelling and moving.

Can you talk about using a non-linear timeline to tell Nureyev’s story, with different film stocks to represent different eras in his life?

That’s right. We used Super 16mm for some scenes. In Russia, where we shot all of the childhood scenes, our hands were forced because it’s complicated bringing in film cameras and film stock so that was all shot on digital. Initially, I had a sort of linear idea in my head with David very much wanting to tell the story of this young man arriving in Paris. I think he might have initially conceived it just as a Paris film, but I was very keen to show where he is from. I felt that would help the drama and the story, but I didn’t want a polite flashback structure. Each timeline is actually in chronological order.

The best experience of reading a script is when something you hadn’t thought of comes off the page

What about filming in three different countries? Was it a nightmare shoot?

It was a nightmare of finance! Because of the three countries involved and the three crews, the expenses are huge. It was a very, very difficult film to finance, not helped because because I was insisting on Russian actors and Russian language and French language and I wanted an unknown lead actor. Once the finance was on track, however, the production companies in different countries were all fantastic. The key exteriors are real. When Oleg is walking in St Petersburg, it is St Petersburg. The Louvre is the Louvre and the banks of the Seine are the banks of the Seine and the roof of the Paris Opera is the roof of the Paris Opera. They’re the real thing and it’s very satisfying to see them.

What was it about Oleg Ivanko, a dancer who had never acted before, that landed him the key role of Nureyev?

Oleg is a very strong dancer and I wanted a dancer to play the role, but I needed a dancer who could act. It was clearly a great acting challenge and a proper, complicated meaty acting part. We tested four people and looking at the auditions, I had a very clear sense that Oleg was the one. I had to guide him a lot to begin with because I had a strong sense of what I wanted to see in terms of physical attitude and tone nuance, but he got it.

When you’re directing, do you prefer not to also be in the cast? I’m guessing your presence in a film would help with those nightmares of financing...

I went into it not wanting to be in it. When we were looking for finances in Russia, a local producer said to me, ‘Ralph, why aren’t you in it? That would help raise some money.’ It was hard to learn Russian, play

the role and direct, but I loved the part of Pushkin.

Did you remembered any Russian from when you worked there on Onegin (1999)?

I had enough Russian on which to build. e Russians will hear a slight accent, but so far, my voice coach and translator has said it doesn’t trouble them! I worked hard on it but it’s still quite possible that the Russians might re-voice me if it really bugs them and, quite rightly so, because it’s important.

You’re slated to take the lead role in Hallelujah!, the story of Handel and his Messiah. Since that premiere happened here in 1742, will you be shooting in Dublin?

Well, I don’t know exactly where we are with that lm. I de nitely want to do it and I think they’re probably waiting for me to be available and I think it will be next year. But it’s a great story. I know the Messiah premiere was here and I hope the production does come here because there’s lots about the Irish lm-making community that is very attractive. We should do it here for sure.

Finally, at this stage in your career, what needs to be in a script to pique your interest as actor or director?

Well, that’s a really hard question to answer because the best experience of reading a script is when something you hadn’t thought of comes o the page. I want to be surprised. Two lms where I felt ‘Ah, this feels like something di erent’ were Wes Anderson asking me to do e Grand Budapest Hotel and Martin McDonagh asking me to play an East End gang boss for In Bruges. So it has to be a surprise and the director needs to have a take on it that persuades you to get involved. at’s always the hope.

e White Crow opens nationwide on March 22