Ralph Fiennes: My Life in Pictures

THE ACCLAIMED ACTOR SHARES CHILDHOOD MEMORIES AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES SET SECRETS

- By ERIC ANDERSSON and JORDAN FEIN

It’s no surprise that Ralph Fiennes pursued an artistic career. Raised in rural England by father Mark Fiennes, a farmer turned photographer, and mother Jennifer Lash, a novelist and painter, he and his five younger siblings were encouraged to express themselves creatively.

“We were very much an arts family,” says the actor, 62, who credits his mom for keeping the Fiennes kids curious.

“She always made sure we had access to drawing paper and paints and pens and crayons.

My mother was someone who, whatever any of her children did, was encouraging: ‘Do it, do it.’ But she was very strong about ‘Do it thoroughly.