Joseph Fiennes is taking on the role of Gareth Southgate in the BBC adaptation of Dear England, a drama written by James Graham that explores the highs and lows of English football through the eyes of the celebrated manager. As fans watch him on screen, many are curious about his life away from the spotlight.
Family Life and Background
Off-screen, Fiennes is a devoted husband to Swiss model María Dolores Dieguez and father to their two daughters, Eva and Isabel. The family recently relocated from Mallorca back to London after a decade abroad, with Fiennes expressing a desire for his children to grow up surrounded by the city's cultural richness.
Joseph comes from the famously artistic Fiennes dynasty, which includes his older brother, the acclaimed actor Ralph Fiennes. Ralph rose to fame as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1992) and earned Oscar nominations for Schindler's List, The English Patient, and Conclave. He is also widely known for playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films. Joseph rarely discusses Ralph publicly but has expressed profound admiration for him, playfully attributing their family's creative drive to a "malformed gene."
Joseph's twin brother, Jacob, works in conservation, while sisters Martha and Sophie are directors, and brother Magnus is a composer.
Terrifying Theft Ordeal
Shortly after returning to London, the Fiennes family faced a frightening ordeal. Joseph told The Times: "Within a week of arriving, my wife was mugged, her phone was stolen, my car was taken, the flat we bought went down by 14 per cent and the kids said, 'Dad, what are we doing here? It's raining every day.'" Reflecting on his own upbringing, he emphasized the value of adversity: "Yes, I want you to catch the Tube and the bus and understand how to negotiate timetables, the bad weather and a difficult city and the cost of living."
Despite these challenges, he remains optimistic about London: "The city is also a colossus of culture. There's theatre. One of my children is studying art GCSE and we go to the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A - there's so much. So I won't be put off by the high taxes or poo in the river or what I call the crime bikes - the Lime bikes whose riders go around and snatch bags - because I offset all of that against the extraordinary, diverse wonder and culture."
Dramatic Facial Injury
In 2005, while filming The Great Raid in Australia, Fiennes suffered a severe surfing accident on the Gold Coast. A powerful wave threw him against his own surfboard, knocking him unconscious and causing significant damage to his lower lip and nose. Surgeons later reconstructed and reattached his lower lip. Fiennes noted that his stubble unexpectedly helped the procedure: "The only way they could put my lip that came off back together was because they saw where the stubble ended, so they knew where it could be sewn back on."
Dear England airs Monday, May 25 at 9pm on BBC One.
