Actor and filmmaker Ralph Fiennes will step behind the camera once again to direct a film about Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, according to Screen Daily. Whilst it is yet unknown who will play Nureyev in Fiennes’ film, this looks set to tell an engaging story of the iconic dancer for fans and dance audiences alike.
The film will be Fiennes’ third feature as a director, after directing 2011’s Coriolanus and 2013’s The Invisible Woman, in which he played Charles Dickens. Despite this, the biographical drama which will unfold for Nureyev will not see Fiennes play the lead. Gabrielle Tana will produce the film (who also produced the hit film Philomena staring Dame Judi Dench), which is set to shoot in late 2016, with script by Sir David Hare.
The film will be based on Julie Kavanagh’s celebrated biography of the Soviet-born dancer, who defected to the west in 1961 – a bold move at the time. He went on to dance with the Royal Ballet, and famously partnered the iconic Dame Margot Fonteyn; their partnership was undoubtably celebrated as one of the greatest dance partnerships in history. Nureyev also acted in films – among them a biopic of silent star Rudolph Valentino – before dying in 1993 at the age of 54.
Fiennes recently appeared in Man and Superman at the National Theatre and will be seen later this year as M in the next James Bond film Spectre. He is perhaps best known for his Oscar-nominated roles in Schindler’s List and The English Patient, and for playing Voldemort in the Harry Potter series of films. Fiennes has also written a new version of Ibsen’s play The Master Builder, in which Fiennes will star at the Old Vic in London next year.