US InStyle Magazine
September 2001
By Polly Williams

JOSEPH FIENNES

His star turn in "Shakespeare In Love" proved he could pull off the tights-and-doublet look, but offscreen Joseph Fiennes is more of a jeans-and-sneakers guy. Playing it safe, stylewise, is a lesson he learned early. "When I was 10, I went to prep school for a year. We had to wear a uniform of gray flannel shorts and a cloth cap embroidered with a swan," he recalls. "Then we moved to South London, and my mother packed us off to the local school wearing exactly the same outfit. I got beaten up. That's when I learned not to be glamorous!"

Fiennes has been changing costumes ever since. Now starring with Heather Graham in the erotic thriller "Killing me Softly," the 31-year-old trained at the Young Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company before smoldering onto the big screen in "Stealing Beauty," "Elizabeth," "Shakespeare" and "Enemy at the Gates." Born in England to a photographer father and a novelist/painter mother, Fiennes and his five siblings are a high-art version of the von Trapps.

Apart from older brother Ralph (star of "The English Patient" and "Schindler's List"), there 's Martha, a director (Onegin); Sophie, a producer; and Magnus, a composer. (Bucking the trend, Joseph's twin, Jacob, lives "a sane life," says his brother, as a gamekeeper in the English countryside.) With such a bloodline, this is one regular guy destined not to be an ordinary Joe.

IS: Why is the Fiennes family so talented?

JF: I don't know - maybe we've got funny genes.

IS: What was your childhood like?

JF: An adventure, as we were always moving. It might have been chaotic, but I wasn't disturbed by it. I loved it. Stability came from our big group of family and friends. We didn't have a television until I was about 12, I grew up in a family that was all about children. It's ideal.

IS: Did that mean hand-me-downs?

JF: As the youngest, I got to choose from many wardrobes. I had woollies (underclothing), jumpers (sweaters) and scarves. I think the bottom line is that I was square. But I think it's easier for a boy, really.

IS: Who was the most fashionable sibling?

JF: It wasn't something I was aware of growing up. At the age of 12, when I might have noticed, I lived with my mother and twin brother in the country. The others were older and had moved away. But was Ralph a glamorous older bother? No, not at all.

IS: Stylewise, are you and your twin the most alike?

JF: No, we're uniquely different. He's a gamekeeper in Norfolk, involved in conservation, and he works so incredibly hard it puts the rest of us to shame. He's very stylish. He wears tweed jackets and is very much a country gent. We weren't dressed the same as children. Being called "the twins" was enough. You had to fight for your identity.

IS: Describe your looks today.

JF: Loose. I run around a lot, so I just throw on hard-wearing things like sneakers and jeans. I don't dress for anyone else, just my own comfort. I am the antithesis to style in my private time.

IS: What about premiere gear?

JF: I do have some beautiful suits: Versace and Armani.

IS: How comfortable are you without clothes, say, in the KMS nude scenes?

JF: You are conscious that you are naked and everyone else is dressed. It's a slightly unnatural setting. But the fear is not physical exposure; it's the way it's going to be shot, edited, and perceived. So really it's about trusting a good director.

IS: And about trusting your costar?

JF: It's important that you build trust and a rapport, because as it gets more intimate you get more vulnerable. There has to be a chemistry, basic psychological skills and negotiation. Heather Graham is great, very easygoing. She's got a wicked sense of humor. We giggled a lot. It's rather like going to see a headmaster who is shouting at you and your first reaction is to giggle in order to break the tension.

IS: Whose style do you admire?

JF: Marlene Dietrich is interesting. It was groundbreaking for a woman to jump into a man's suit in that way. She's someone who found her identity through her clothes.

IS: What do you like women to wear?

JF: I like a woman to be at ease in whatever she's wearing. I like a woman to feel sexy. You pick up the presence of someone who is very happy with herself and what she's wearing. It's not so much the clothing. Heels? I love heels. It's not a fetish, but there is something very sexy about them.

IS: Do the women in your life try to dress you?

JF: Nobody has attempted to, so they either like me square or think that I'm past the point of help.