Advertisement
For £35 you can help a vendor keep themselves warm, dry, fed, earning and progressing
BUY A VENDOR SUPPORT KIT
Film

Ralph Fiennes: 'Don’t lie, don’t deceive. Do your best not to hurt people'

The stage and screen icon described himself as an outsider in A Letter To My Younger Self

Ralph fiennes

Acting legend Ralph Fiennes said his career hasn’t lost its novelty – and he still feels “a delight” when invited to be in a film.

Fiennes spoke exclusively to The Big Issue in A Letter To My Younger Self, where he confessed that the 16-year-old Fiennes would not have believed the opportunities he has access to.

Fiennes said: “At 16 my passions were girls, a half-hearted attempt to learn karate and an equally half-hearted interest in punk rock… My mum sewed my jeans über-tight and I had a scraggy haircut that wasn’t a Mohican, it was a weird mess of a crop. I didn’t know what I was doing. I straddled somewhere between The Stranglers and David Bowie.”

“I was a bit of an outsider,” he continued: “My younger self would not believe if they were told this is what you would achieve. That younger person would go, No, really? No, I don’t believe you. They would be thrilled and delighted that these opportunities have come my way.”

On love

Fiennes commented: “When it comes to his love life, I would advise my younger self to have the courage to be honest in whatever situation. Don’t lie, don’t deceive. And do your best not to hurt people. Oh god, there is lots of advice. Know when to walk away is one, don’t hang around in a needy way. Get out.

I also hope to work with Wes Anderson again

Sometimes there is a sadness that collaborations are not repeated. I loved working with Steven Spielberg on Schindler’s List all those years ago. That was thrilling… I hope one day I might be invited to do something with him again. I also hope to work with Wes Anderson again – we have talked about collaborating again, so that might happen and I would also love to work with Luca Guadagnino because I loved A Bigger Splash.”

Advertisement
Advertisement

He concluded: “Have the courage of your own convictions and have the courage to speak your mind, which is sometimes harder than it might sound. That is the main thing I would tell my younger self. But be open to other people’s opinions. Listen. And be alert to the continuous journey of believing in yourself while being open to others without betraying your own conscience. That is what I would say. It is the continuous alertness. Don’t be complacent.”

The Schindler’s List and Grand Budapest Hotel star also said he would tell his younger self to have the courage to speak his mind – something that is “sometimes harder than it might sound”, he confessed.

“But be open to other people’s opinions,” he continued. “Listen. And be alert to the continuous journey of believing in yourself while being open to others without betraying your own conscience.

“It is the continuous alertness. Don’t be complacent.”

Read the full interview in this week’s Big Issue.

Read the full article in this week's Big Issue.
Find your vendor
Something Wicked this way comes
Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
These children are going blind – so their parents gave them memories to last a lifetime
kids
Film

These children are going blind – so their parents gave them memories to last a lifetime

Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'
Malala Yousafzai
Activism

Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'

Wicked: The musical reimagining of The Wizard of Oz shows a way to reclaim the American dream
Film

Wicked: The musical reimagining of The Wizard of Oz shows a way to reclaim the American dream

Seven Samurai is the daddy of all action films. So why have I never watched it until now?
Film

Seven Samurai is the daddy of all action films. So why have I never watched it until now?

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know