Ralph Fiennes was so inspired by the story of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, he decided to make a film about his life.
“The White Crow” is based on the true story of a young boy from a very poor part of Central Soviet Russia, who would become one of the greatest dancers of his time.
“That story just leapt off the page and I just remember thinking, ‘this is an amazing movie. I don’t know who’s going to direct it, but somebody certainly should,” Fiennes said in an appearance on “Popcorn with Peter Travers.” “It always sat there as sort of an idea for a film. But I didn’t really embrace it as something I would direct until much later.”
Fiennes would go on to not only direct but also star in the film, after a bit of nudging. He does all of the dialogue in Russian.
“I didn’t want to be in the film. I wanted to direct the film. And I wanted Russian actors in Russian roles, speaking Russian and French actors, speaking French,” Fiennes said. “But the finance was really tricky.” An investor approached Fiennes and encouraged him to be in the film because of his recognizable name.
“And I kind of folded,” said Fiennes. “I knew it was a lovely part.”
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Nureyev’s remarkable dancing and choreography would become the stuff of news headlines when he made the decision to defect to France in 1961 at 23. It would become the first defection of a Soviet artist during the Cold War.
“There’s something purely ferocious about Nureyev, which I love,” Fiennes, 56, told Travers. “I love it because it doesn’t accommodate anyone. It’s sort of monstrous and appalling. And I’m sure I would hate to be on the receiving end of it. But just dramatically, he’s like something out of a Greek myth, some person who’s blessed and cursed with the gift of dance and a monstrous spirit. He’s sort of got a force that’s beyond human. It moves me.”
"The White Crow" hits theaters everywhere today.
Watch the full interview with Peter Travers and Ralph Fiennes in the video above.
