Ralph Fiennes has opened up about the profound grief he experienced following the death of his mother, Jennifer, shortly after the release of his Oscar-winning film Schindler's List. The 63-year-old actor, known for roles in Harry Potter and The English Patient, described the period as 'bewildering' and 'full of grief'.
In a candid interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Fiennes revealed that his mother passed away at the end of December 1993, just months after filming the Holocaust epic. The film went on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but Fiennes said the whirlwind of success prevented him from properly mourning.
'It was a funny time, not funny like hilarious, it was odd and emotional and full of grief,' he said. 'There was Schindler's List getting such an extraordinary response and I was reeling from the loss of my mother at the time.'
Jennifer Fiennes, a novelist, died of breast cancer at age 55. Her final novel, Blood Ties, was published posthumously. Fiennes credited his mother with introducing him to Shakespeare, poetry, and theatre during his childhood in Suffolk.
Fiennes, who has been nominated for three Oscars, will appear on The Claudia Winkleman Show on BBC One tonight at 10.40pm.
