Joseph Fiennes

  • Actor

Press clippings

Gareth Southgate play Dear England to become BBC series

Dear England, the hit comedic stage play about Gareth Southgate and the England men's football team, is to become a BBC One series.

British Comedy Guide, 22nd February 2024

Joseph Fiennes now regrets playing Michael Jackson in a 2016 episode of Urban Myths

Seven years after his controversial portrayal of the late Michael Jackson, Joseph Fiennes admitted taking the role was a 'wrong decision' and a 'bad mistake.

Brian Gallagher, Daily Mail, 13th June 2023

This romance plays handsomely to the masses in the pit, with Tom Stoppard's quill-sharp script melding major life events of the bard with the writing of Romeo and Juliet. There are puns, pratfalls, tears and laughter, and a cast that revels in it, from Joseph Fiennes's Will to Gwyneth Paltrow's muse Viola.

Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 17th February 2019

In defence of Sky's white MJ

Art and entertainment must be free to be offensive.

Maren Thom, Spiked, 17th January 2017

Sky Arts scraps controversial Michael Jackson show

Sky Arts has said it will now not broadcast Urban Myths: Elizabeth, Michael And Marlon, a one-off show that features a controversial depiction of Michael Jackson.

British Comedy Guide, 13th January 2017

Michael Jackson's child offended by use of white actor

Michael Jackson's daughter Paris says she's "incredibly offended" that a white actor has been chosen to play the part of her father in a new TV film.

BBC News, 12th January 2017

Joseph Fiennes is unrecognisable as Michael Jackson

Joseph Fiennes looks completely unrecognisable as Michael Jackson in the new Sky Arts comedy.

The Sun, 11th January 2017

Director defends use of white actor as Michael Jackson

Ben Palmer says Joseph Fiennes gives a sweet, nuanced performance in episode of Sky Arts satirical comedy series.

Hannah Ellis-Petersen, The Guardian, 10th January 2017

Joseph Fiennes (where's he been lately, eh?) is the titular playwright, here a struggling up-and-comer suffering from writer's block on his latest script, provisionally titled Romeo And Ethel, The Pirate's Daughter. What with women being forbidden to act on stage, Shakespeare casts a youth called Thomas Kent as Romeo, only to discover 'he' is actually a rich man's daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow).

However, their true love instantly hits obstacles: he's poor and already married, she's betrothed to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) and, from thence onwards, the course of true love never runs smooth. It's brilliantly witty, light and packed with superb performances including Judi Dench who won a best supporting Oscar as Queen Elizabeth despite only being on screen for eight minutes.

Carol Carter and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 22nd November 2013

Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow make a fine couple in this imagining of Shakespeare's life when he was writing Romeo and Juliet. It's packed with historical half-truths and amusing theories, although none are as far-fetched as the one in new film Anonymous, which suggests that Shakespeare's plays were written by the Earl of Oxford.

Catherine Gee, The Telegraph, 17th November 2011

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