Ralph Fiennes compares Donald Trump to King Lear

The actor also spoke about why he would go back to playing Voldemort
Getting political: Ralph Fiennes talks Trump
Alex Bramall
The Weekender

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Ralph Fiennes has compared Donald Trump to “a weird mix” of Shakespearean characters and says the American President-elect must be challenged.

The star, recently named best actor at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, likened the tycoon to King Lear, who causes chaos when he divides his kingdom between his two sycophantic daughters, and the boastful drunk Falstaff from Shakepeare’s history plays.

He told ES Magazine Trump’s victory this month was “distressing” for liberal values. “We have to be prepared to defend those things and when we’re called on those values by the likes of Trump, we need to stand up for them.”

Fiennes, who was recognised for the title role of Richard III at the Almeida and that of Halvard Solness in The Master Builder at the Old Vic, said: “He’s a weird mix of King Lear in the first act — that attitude of ‘This is what I’m going to do and f*** you if you disagree’ — with the sort of sensuous egregiousness of Falstaff. I’d put him somewhere in the mix between the two.”

Honoured: Ralph Fiennes with his award 
Dave Benett

The actor, 53, whose big break in Hollywood came playing a Nazi officer in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 epic Schindler’s List, said he was glad to be getting more comedy roles following his more recent success playing a concierge in The Grand Budapest Hotel and “lovely parts” such as a fastidious director in Hail, Caesar! and a larger-than-life music producer in A Bigger Splash.

ES Magazine backstage at The Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2016

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But of one of his most “evil” roles, Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, he suggested there could be a chance he would play him again. It is not known whether the dark wizard will reappear in J K Rowling’s spin-off franchise, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, but he said that if “Voldemort came round again, I would feel possessive... protective. I would like to not let that go”.

The actor, who played MI6 chief M in the most recent Bond films, also has plans for more directing work, which he describes as “stressful” but enjoyable, and is raising finances for a film about Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s defection from the Soviet Union at the height of his fame.

He said: “Another part of my brain opened up, another part of my spirit. Someone described directing as being pecked to death by questions. But I liked being in the driving seat.”

However, Fiennes has no plans to give up acting. Of his two recent stage roles, he said: “I loved being in the plays recently I feel that — it’s a cliché — but my roots are there on stage.”

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