Editing Joseph Fiennes (section)

== Career ==

=== Stage and film ===
{{BLP sources section|date=February 2016}}
[[File:Joseph Fiennes 5 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Joseph Fiennes in 2009]]
Fiennes' first professional stage appearance was in the West End in ''[[The Woman in Black (play)|The Woman in Black]]'', followed by ''[[A Month in the Country (play)|A Month in the Country]]''. He then became a member of the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] for two seasons.

He made his television debut as Willy in the 1995 [[television film]] adaptation of ''[[The Vacillations of Poppy Carew]]''. His first feature film was 1996's ''[[Stealing Beauty]]''. In 1998, Fiennes appeared in two films that were nominated at the [[Academy Awards]]: he played Robert Dudley in ''[[Elizabeth (film)|Elizabeth]]'' and he portrayed [[William Shakespeare]] in ''[[Shakespeare in Love]]'', receiving nominations for the [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role]]<ref>{{cite news |date=2 March 1999 |title=Costume dramas take centre stage at Baftas |work=Liverpool Daily Post |page=4}}</ref> and the [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role]].<ref>{{cite news |date=27 January 1999 |title=Shakespeare film cast in line for more love-ly awards |work=Wolverhampton Express and Star |page=14}}</ref> He appeared in ''[[Running with Scissors (film)|Running with Scissors]]'' (2006).

In 2001, Fiennes appeared in the film ''[[Enemy at the Gates]]''. In 2002, he starred in the independent film ''[[Killing Me Softly (film)|Killing Me Softly]]''.

In 2003, he lent his voice as [[Proteus]] in the [[DreamWorks Animation|DreamWorks]] animated film ''[[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]]'' opposite [[Brad Pitt]]. The same year, he starred in the limited-release film ''[[Luther (2003 film)|Luther]]'', playing [[Martin Luther]], and he also appeared in ''[[The Merchant of Venice (2004 film)|The Merchant of Venice]]'', in which he portrayed [[Bassanio]]. Fiennes returned to the theatre in 2006 to perform in the one-man play ''Unicorns, Almost'' about World War II poet [[Keith Douglas]] at the [[Old Vic]].

In 2006, he appeared in the films ''[[The Darwin Awards (film)|The Darwin Awards]]'' and ''[[Goodbye Bafana]]''. In ''Goodbye Bafana'' Fiennes portrayed [[James Gregory (prison officer)|James Gregory]], author of the book ''Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend''.

In 2023, he appeared in the play ''[[Dear England]]'', portraying the England football manager [[Gareth Southgate]].

=== Television ===
Fiennes starred in the ABC science fiction series ''[[FlashForward]]'', which debuted on 24 September 2009 and ran through 27 May 2010, as Mark Benford.<ref>{{cite web |date=25 September 2009 |title=Joseph Fiennes Interview: FlashForward |url=http://tv.sky.com/joseph-fiennes-interview-flash-forward |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328180044/http://tv.sky.com/joseph-fiennes-interview-flash-forward |archive-date=28 March 2010 |access-date=14 October 2009 |website=TV.Sky.com}}.</ref> He starred in Starz's 10-part series, ''[[Camelot (TV series)|Camelot]]'', as the wizard [[Merlin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/News/Camelot-Fiennes-Green-1019201.aspx|title=Joseph Fiennes, Eva Green Lead Camelot Cast|publisher=TVGuide.com|date=3 June 2010}}</ref>

In the [[American Horror Story: Asylum|second season]] of ''[[American Horror Story]]'', which premiered in October 2012, Fiennes played the role of Monsignor Timothy Howard. From 2017 to 2021, Fiennes starred on the Hulu series ''[[The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)|The Handmaid's Tale]]'' as Commander Fred Waterford.