Ralph Fiennes letting off steam about the difficulties of the job. In 1994, he portrayed American academic Charles Van Doren in "Quiz Show." In 1996 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the epic World War II romance "The English Patient," in which he starred with Kristin Scott-Thomas. Fiennes' film work has encompassed a variety of genres, including thrillers ("Spider"), an animated Biblical epic ("The Prince of Egypt"), camp nostalgia ("The Avengers"), romantic comedy ("Maid in Manhattan"), and historical drama ("Sunshine"). In 1999, Fiennes had the title role in "Onegin," a film which he also helped produce. His
Kathryn Bigelow Festival in May 2009, and theatrically released in the US in June 2009. It qualified for the 2010 Oscars as it did not premiere in an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles until mid-2009. Set in post-invasion Iraq, the film received "universal acclaim" (according to Metacritic) and a 97% "fresh" rating from the critics aggregated by Rotten Tomatoes. The film stars Jeremy Renner, Brian Geraghty and Anthony Mackie, with cameos by Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes. She won the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (becoming the first woman to win the award)