Bryce Hutchins / Daily Nexus

The 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival awarded its Outstanding Performer of the Year Award to the legendary actor and director Ralph Fiennes. The award is given to an actor whose role has “exceeded greatness,” according to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). Fiennes earned this high honor for his role in “Conclave” (2024), as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence. 

The Feb. 6 event at Arlington Theatre started with a red carpet, where the Daily Nexus got the chance to speak with the honoree. Fiennes described how the complexity and writing of Lawrence is what made him take on the project. “It was a gut feeling to take it,” he said of his mindset after reading the script. 

Inside the theater, SBIFF’s eccentric and dapperly dressed executive director, Roger Durling, walked on stage and expressed his excitement to have Fiennes at the festival.  

“He is one of the most phenomenal performers ever,” Durling said. “This man deserves every accolade in the world. The fact that he hasn’t won an Oscar yet? Damn it. Let’s rectify that.” Durling’s words were met with cheers from the audience. 

Durling then introduced the moderator for the night’s discussion of Fiennes’ career — Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter’s executive editor of awards coverage.

In his opening speech, Feinberg lauded the work of the English actor. “One of the greatest stage and screen actors of our time … The problem [with Fiennes] is he has been so consistently excellent, I think people take him for granted.” 

“I’m not sure I can think of anyone alive today that doesn’t have an Oscar who is more deserving of having one, or two, or three,” Feinberg said. A montage of Fiennes’ illustrious and substantial filmography then played, before Feinberg introduced the night’s honoree.

Adorned in a blue pinstripe suit accompanied by a sweater and plain black Nike sneakers, Fiennes walked onstage to a thunderous applause of admirers. “Thank you,” Fiennes said quietly into the microphone — a small taste of the humility and gratitude he would embody throughout the evening.

Ralph Fiennes poses for a photo on the red carpet. (Bryce Hutchins / Daily Nexus)

Opening the evening, Feinberg asked Fiennes to describe his early upbringing and childhood love for the arts.

“[My mother] took me to my first Shakespeare experience,” Fiennes explained. “She just was just fantastic at encouraging all her children to pursue what they believed in as long as they did it thoroughly.” 

Moving forward in the timeline of his life to college and pursuing acting, Fiennes explained he was somewhat of a late bloomer even after acting throughout his young life. “All the people who at 16 knew they wanted to be actors, well, I found them a bit dubious,” he said, which received a nice roar of laughter from the audience.

On his college experience, Fiennes said, “I was in London, which was sexy,” compared to his upbringing in the more rural English countryside.

“I was enjoying art school. I was loving it, but I just had this very strong sense that [acting is] what I was meant to do,” Fiennes said. “I went to my mother and I said I think I want to be an actor … She said, ‘Go and do it then. You got to go and do it!’”

To Fiennes and many others looking retrospectively, the actor’s early films were not highlights in his career. However, they offered unique lessons and experiences in the craft of filmmaking.  “When the energies and the creative impetus are not aligned on a film, that’s often when it sort of becomes broken-backed in the final result,” Fiennes explained. 

However, one famous director didn’t see failure in these early films — he saw a star in the making. Steven Spielberg cast Fiennes in his historical drama “Schindler’s List.” Fienberg brought up a quote from Spielberg about Fiennes’ audition tapes for “Schindler’s List” (1993), “Ralph did three takes, I still to this day have not seen take two or take three.”

Again from his time filming in his early career Fiennes illuminated the powerful art of cinema and the skills of the others he worked alongside. Pulling from his time working on “Schindler’s List,” Fiennes added,  “[The actors, dressed as Nazi soldiers and Jewish prisoners] were all talking to each other and having conversations and being interested in each other. I always thought that was a wonderful quality of healing and something about art and making of a film: bringing people together across these terrible traumas of history.” 

However, Fiennes’ newfound success did not come without its hardships, as during the release of “Schindler’s List,” Fiennes’ mother passed away. “Having gone through all the grief and loss you could imagine, I feel that she’s watching,” Fiennes said, in a truly emotional moment.

The retrospective continued, exploring the many films Fiennes starred in during the middle of his career, from director Robert Redford’s “Quiz Show” in 1994, to 1998’s “The Avengers” (which received a face palm from the actor), and “Maid in Manhattan” (2002).

“A rom-com with you and J. Lo!” Feinberg added, to which Fiennes did a giddy dance in response.

Talking about the “Harry Potter” films, Fiennes elaborated, “I think I was probably guilty of a sort of totally misplaced snobbery about witches and goblins.” But then, with a casting director’s persistence and his own sister telling him of the cultural relevance, Fiennes was convinced. 

“I said, ‘Okay, I’m in.’”

Fiennes also spoke about his lead role in Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014). “I loved playing it … maybe some part of me is M. Gustave,” he said. 

Moderator Scott Feinberg talks to Fiennes about his career. (Bryce Hutchins / Daily Nexus)

His reverence for the pure art of acting, shining brighter than the stage lights of the Arlington, exemplified his overall demeanor. He was onstage constantly deflecting the compliments of Feinberg to others he had worked with and placing the reasons for his success or his skill in the hands of his fellow artisans. He highlighted the directors, cinematographers and other actors beside which he had crafted groundbreaking and memorable performances. 

Feinberg highlighted the latest two films in Fiennes’ catalogue: “The Menu” (2022) and “Conclave” (2024).

“[With] the patterns of repetition in the actor’s mouth something gets stale and you have to kick it, you have to sort of nudge it and knock it, and do something different. Improvisation sometimes can release some energy that is as good as or better than something that’s written,” Fiennes said, speaking to the excitement and passion on working on “The Menu” and the art of improvising lines.

To Fiennes, “Conclave” offered a unique opportunity for the actor. “I think there was a spirit about this character … There’s a spirit in the screenplay. You go on a gut feeling about something and you sort of have a feeling, dare I say it, where you go ‘I meant to do this,’” he said. “[It] doesn’t happen very often and I had that feeling.”

Fiennes then reflected on his career journey leading up to “Conclave.” “I mean I think hopefully you get better over the years… I’ve looked at these clips and I have one part of me that’s going ‘Oh, that’s not very good.’  But ‘Conclave’ … was one of those things where I had a feeling about that, connecting to the part.”

After the discussion, Edward Berger, the director of “Conclave,” walked out to give the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award to Fiennes.

Speaking of Fiennes’ monologue in the film, Berger said, “The day we filmed that scene I thought ‘We might actually have a shot,’ because I looked into [Fiennes’] eyes and I saw every single thought forming behind them.”

“Your eyes spoke a thousand words … The film took place on your face,” Berger continued. “I learned so much from you.”

Fiennes’ skill is in displaying emotion and thoughts without speaking: The ability for him as a performer to display an inner monologue and emotions through his eyes, his face, his physicality. Fiennes is a one-of-a-kind gem in his unmatched ability to dive into a role, to dawn a mask and become the person. To say Fiennes acts is a disservice to him, in all essence he transforms and morphs for every role into the character, losing any trance of the person playing the person on screen or stage.

In his acceptance speech, Fiennes’ words were filled with gratitude for others and for the art of acting. 

“Thank you Scott, for the depth and detail of your research … Edward, my friend, thank you for being here. It means the world,” Fiennes said.

“Looking back at some of my work tonight, with Scott, I just realize how profoundly lucky I’ve been to have had these opportunities and to have shared them with so many remarkable people,” Fiennes continued.  “I value the transformative power of art … the art of storytelling, that mysterious moment when a story links us [together].”

With that, Fiennes took the award and walked off stage to the roaring applause of his admirers and fans, closing out a night of artistic expression and celebration. 

Fiennes is currently nominated for Best Actor at the 97th Academy Awards.