Entertainment

Ralph Fiennes: I can't remember when or why I did that Voldemort laugh

Ralph answered the questions about his career that REALLY matter.
Ralph answered the questions about his career that REALLY matter.

Actor and director Ralph Fiennes has admitted he cannot remember why or in what scene he voiced Lord Voldemort’s famous laugh in the last Harry Potter film.

The strange sound produced by the spine-chilling villain when he believes he has killed the boy wizard went viral and became a popular internet meme, but to the star, it was just a spontaneous outburst.

You remember the one…

The 54-year-old made the admission as he spoke to philosopher Slavoj Zizek at a School Of Life event in central London.

Asked by an audience member where the laugh came from, he said simply: “I can’t actually remember what that scene was or why I did it.”

Ralph has been praised for his portrayal of the evil lord, lending what Slavoj described as an air of “melancholy” to the character.

“It wasn’t useful going into it as evil,” he said, joking: “I just thought, ‘I want to destroy Harry Potter, he is really annoying me and the world will be a better place without him in it’.”

Slovenian writer and film enthusiast Slacoj wore Ralph down with a detailed critique of his most famous work, dismissing The English Patient and Schindler’s List, which each won the actor an Academy Award nomination.

Ralph used his few opportunities to get a word in to speak about his disdain for political correctness and his hope for the future of theatre and film.“I feel lost sometimes, I don’t always know how to find clarity in these questions of political correctness, it’s a real pain in the arse,” he said.“I find myself getting caught up in it and then realise this is mad, because we all have things we need to express.

“We are in this time where we are super sensitive to offence and I am not sure this is always healthy for language, we have taken on this sense of guilt and need to apologise.”

Describing the political climate across the world, he admitted “hope is become increasingly hard”, but that the arts offered a relief from “the Trump dimension”.

“I find hope in seeing artists and directors bringing something out of themselves that people relate to and reach out to and want more of,” he said.

Ralph is pursuing his interest in Soviet history by directing The White Crow, a film about the early life of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

While the project earned Slavoj’s approval, the philosopher concluded: “When you are eventually writing your confession in the gulag, start with why you agreed to star in Maid In Manhattan.”