He earned Academy Award nominations for his roles as Nazi war criminal Amon Göth in Schindler's List (1993), Count Almásy in The English Patient (1996), and a Cardinal going through a crisis of faith in Conclave (2024).

He has also acted in Quiz Show (1994), Maid in Manhattan (2002), The Constant Gardener (2005), In Bruges (2008), The Reader (2008), The Hurt Locker (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), A Bigger Splash (2015), Hail, Caesar!

His nephew, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, played Tom Riddle, young Lord Voldemort, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

He had a major role in Peter Greenaway's film The Baby of Mâcon with Julia Ormond, which provoked controversy and was poorly received.

Later that year, he became known internationally for portraying the brutal Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Göth in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.

In 1996, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the epic World War II romantic drama The English Patient, in which he starred with Kristin Scott-Thomas.

[9] Fiennes's film work has encompassed a variety of genres, including thrillers (Spider, Strange Days), an animated Biblical epic (The Prince of Egypt), camp nostalgia (The Avengers), romantic comedy (Maid in Manhattan), and historical drama (Sunshine).

Fiennes's performance as a sympathetic serial killer with a romantic relationship with a blind girl, played by Emily Watson, was praised.

Film critic David Sterritt wrote, "Ralph Fiennes is scarily good as [Hannibal Lecter's] fellow lunatic.

The situation affected the cast and crew to such an extent that they set up the Constant Gardener Trust to provide basic education for children of these villages.

[21] That same year, Fiennes voiced Lord Victor Quartermaine in the 2005 stop-motion animated comedy Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

The role saw him play a cruel upper class bounder who courts Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) and despises Wallace & Gromit.

In 2008, he worked with frequent collaborator director Jonathan Kent, playing the title role in Oedipus the King by Sophocles, at the National Theatre in London.

That same year he also appeared in Martin McDonagh's black comedy crime thriller In Bruges starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.

Fiennes reunited with Kathryn Bigelow for her Iraq War film The Hurt Locker, released in 2009, appearing as an English Private Military Contractor.

[26] Though he is not commonly noted as a comic actor, in 2014, Fiennes made an impression with his farcical turn as concierge Monsieur Gustave in Wes Anderson's comedy-drama The Grand Budapest Hotel.

[30] In 2018, he directed and starred in The White Crow, a biographical drama film about the Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

[33][34] In 2020, Fiennes voiced a tiger in the family fantasy adventure film Dolittle starring Robert Downey Jr.

[36] Also in 2021, he starred in the British drama film The Dig playing the Suffolk archaeologist Basil Brown alongside Carey Mulligan and Lily James.

[38] In 2021, Fiennes returned to the stage in David Hare's latest play Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre in London.

His performance has received rave reviews with Variety declaring, "Fiennes is all boldly convincing, controlled threat, his monomania teetering on the edge of malevolence".

[39] In The Guardian's five star rave review, critic Mark Lawson described Fiennes's performance as "enthralling" and an "acting triumph".

[47] In 2023, Fiennes reunited with the director Wes Anderson in an anthology of short films adapted from the works of British author, Roald Dahl, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023).

The play, which also starred Indira Varma as Lady Macbeth, was a success, beginning at Liverpool's The Depot in November, before moving on to Edinburgh, London, and Washington, DC.

[53] Annis and Fiennes announced their separation on 7 February 2006, after 11 years together,[54][55] in a parting described as "acrimonious", following rumours that he had an affair with the Romanian singer Cornelia Crisan.

"[61] In a March 2021 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Fiennes voiced support for J. K. Rowling following backlash against her views on transgender people, arguing "I can't understand the vitriol directed at her.