Shakespeare In Love helped launch the career of Joseph Fiennes in 1998. But behind the scenes there was little esteem between the comedian and Harvey Weinstein, the producer of the Oscar-winning costume drama. In an interview given to the Guardian’s Sunday supplement, the 53-year-old British actor reveals that he was intimidated by the disgraced producer, who has since been convicted of rape and sexual assault and imprisoned.
Asked about the lack of collaboration between Weinstein and him after the success of Shakespeare In Love, the actor explains that he refused to sign an exclusive contract for five films with Miramax, Weinstein’s studio.
First asking that this conversation remain confidential, before authorizing the journalist to paraphrase it and publish it, Joseph Fiennes confides that he was made very uncomfortable by this confrontation which took place in a hotel room. shortly after the triumph of the romantic comedy in costumes.
Joseph Fiennes says he was put on the alert by Weinstein’s threatening and harassing attitude, which promised to cripple the actor’s career and make him a persona non grata in Hollywood if he refused to sign this contract with Miramax. . “It was an intimidation tactic that made my hair stand on end,” says the star of the dystopian series The Handmaid’s Tale. “The way he made his arguments came as a shock to me. I suddenly sat up. I felt fully conscious, confident and strong enough in myself to say ‘I don’t owe you anything and I’m going to turn my back on this offer’”.
Admitting to being still haunted by this interview, during which Harvey Weinstein made shocking remarks that Joseph Fiennes still refuses to repeat, the actor specifies that at that time he had never heard rumors circulating around predatory behavior. by Harvey Weinstein. At the Guardian, the younger brother of Ralph Fiennes believes that this act of defiance “did not help him. Weinstein was very clear: he would not support me. But I was proud not to be part of his clan.
Despite remarkable performances in Elizabeth and Shakepseare In Love, Joseph Fiennes did not experience the meteoric rise that the specialized press predicted for him. At the time, when asked about his few Hollywood projects, he explained that he preferred to return to the theater boards and his fear of being trapped in a brainless blockbuster.
