Ralph Fiennes shared which film of his holds a special place in his heart (Image: Getty)
revealed which of his own films is his favourite.
The actor, 62, has starred in more than 70 films since his on-screen career kicked off in the early ’90s and is hoping to walk away with his first ever Academy Award at the prestigious ceremony this weekend.
Fiennes is up for the Best Actor award for his performance as Cardinal Lawrence in the Vatican thriller, Conclave.
It’s the third time the star has been recognised by the academy, having previously been nominated for his roles in Schindler’s List (1993) and The English Patient (1996).
But these aren’t the ones that stand out to Fiennes when probed about his favourite project. Speaking on SiriusXM back in 2014, the Harry Potter star admitted he has a “soft spot” for his 2005 thriller, The Constant Gardener.
The film follows Fiennes’ character Justin Quayle, a British diplomat who becomes determined to find out who murdered his activist wife (played by Rachel Weisz).
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Fiennes stars as Justin Quayle, a British diplomat who becomes determined to find out who murdered his wife (Image: Universal)
The film was a critical and box office success and earned four nominations, with Weisz, 54, walking away with the award for best supporting actress.
Explaining why it holds a special place in his heart, Fiennes said: “I loved making it. I love the part. I just loved the experience of shooting in Kenya, in Africa. I love what I think it’s about, which is a man who wants to get to the truth or something without any Bondian tough guy stuff.
“It’s about the quiet heroism in a man and it’s got a relevant thing about corporate transparency, the pharmaceutical world.”
Fiennes opened up about the “bond” he formed with the cast and crew, saying: “Also I loved working with Fernando Meirelles and Rachel Weisz and especially I bonded with a wonderful producer called Simon Channing Williams who is sadly no longer with us.”
The star explained how Williams produced the film “against the odds” as huge companies and studios were bidding for the rights to the John le Carré novel.
But it was Williams who persuaded le Carré to let a small British-based company take it on.
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Fiennes praised Simon Channing Williams, who produced the Oscar-winning film (Image: Getty)
Fiennes continued: “I witnessed this fantastic man with a great sense of humour and great stoicism go into remote parts of Northern Kenya and negotiate with different tribes.
“Kenya, certainly in 2004, had no film infrastructure so you were creating stuff from scratch. Simon did stuff like build an air strip in the far north of Kenya and have a big plane land.
“He negotiated with different tribes so that we could film there and initiated a charity to help the community there once we had finished.”
Fiennes branded his friend an “amazing man” and praised him for bringing Fernando Meirelles in as director.
The Sky Fall star added: “The main protagonists were English but he brought in the great Brazilian director, Fernando Meirelles, who people know from the film, City of God, who brings another energy and quality to it.”
Fiennes concluded: “It’s a long-winded way of saying, for all those reasons, that would be my film.”