It’s Fiennes’s coolest role — as ice man Wim

MINDS boggled at the casting of Dominic West as Prince Charles... but what about Joseph Fiennes, who is set to play eccentric Dutch ice-breaker Wim Hof? Fiennes rose to international fame in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love, as the doe-eyed, youthful Bard, and became such an object of desire that he had a red-hot fling with supermodel Naomi Campbell. More recently, he played villain Fred Waterford in the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Now Fiennes, 51, is preparing to play postman-turned-guru Hof, 63, in a film The Iceman, which starts shooting in November. The script has been written by Brit Jeff Pope.

Hof holds the record for the farthest swim under ice; and set a world record for another obscure test of endurance: the fastest half-marathon run barefoot on ice and snow.

He promotes the Wim Hof Method — a combination of exposure to the cold, yoga and meditation — and has been demonstrating this on the BBC One show Freeze The Fear.

Hof’s wife Olaya committed suicide in 1995, and he developed his techniques to help him to deal with depression.

Director Kevin Macdonald said: ‘Wim is someone who has suffered a terrible trauma and finds an entirely new way to deal with the depression that comes with that experience.

‘Jeff Pope has written a brilliant script — full of humour, humanity and emotions. We are introduced to the Dutch suburbs, crazy stunts, a broken family, a love affair and an epiphany. This is a film about resilience, second chances and the amazing ability of the body and mind to heal.’

The claims made for Hof’s method have not been scientifically proven; and people have drowned while attempting his techniques.