Fiennes' take on his latest work

In "The Reader," Ralph Fiennes plays a middle-aged German lawyer who has to confront the consequences of an affair he had decades earlier with a much older woman (Kate Winslet). It reunites director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter David Hare, who collaborated on "The Hours."

Fiennes, whose best-known roles include concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth in "Schindler's List," the title character in "The English Patient" and Lord Voldemort in the "Harry Potter" films, gave this interview last month.

Q What drew you to the part?

A A combination of everything, really: the role, the screenplay, and I liked the idea of working with Stephen a lot. I thought David [Hare]'s adaptation was really smart. I like the fact my role doesn't come into definition until the final 20 minutes. There were wonderful scenes: with Lena Olin [who plays a Holocaust survivor], with Kate, with the young daughter [of Fiennes' character].

Q Your character, Michael Berg, is played as a young man by David Kross. How much of a concern was matching up with him?

A Stephen was very keen to get David Kross and me together in the same room and, you know, our getting a sense of each other physically so we could start to indicate similar attitudes and gestures. But we didn't overdo it. Stephen wanted David to use my instinct about Michael Berg. I think he wanted David more to match up with me than the other way around.

Q You and Kate Winslet are in just one scene together.

Q All the actors playing German characters speak English with German accents. How does something like that affect your performance?

A Some accents are more difficult than others. Varying people have varying difficulties with them. I find it harder to do American than German, actually. I think it would be a mistake to do a heavy-handed one. We tried not to do the cliched German thing. It was more the suggestion of an accent.

Q Your character doesn't age as much as Winslet's, but your performance does span almost 20 years.

A I had a great lady doing my hair, Ivana, who managed to work wonders with my receding hairline. But basically, it was sideburns and things for the '70s. And then I had a gray wig. But not to do it too heavily. I think it could have been distracting. Too much change, people notice it.

Q For a lead part, your screen time is relatively small.

In "the Duchess," there's a scene where Keira Knightley asks if Bess [Hayley Atwell] can stay in the house. That's a scene they proposed cutting but I said don't. It's the one scene where you can see the character I'm playing is attracted to the other woman, and shows a generous impulse.

I thought it was beautifully judged the way David had written the older Michael. It seemed pitched perfectly.

Q This is your fourth 2008 movie [along with "In Bruges," "The Duchess," and "The Hurt Locker"].

A. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a workaholic. It's good to work.

Q That must make your accountant happy.

Q When you're playing a character from a novel, as here or in "The English Patient," do you consciously restrict yourself to the script or do you also read the book to flesh out the part further?

A I had read the book way back and after taking the part read it again -- twice, I think. I find some of the descriptions useful. I find it helpful.

Q What's Stephen Daldry like as a director?

A What's distinctive about him as a director is he's very open to suggestion, very open to exploring what may be the right approach to a scene. He's almost addicted to not nailing it down. If he could go all day on a scene he would, just to see what would happen. He's the direct opposite of the directors who say, "I've got it, I've got it. Let's move on."

Q "I'm not open with anyone," Michael tells his daughter. How much harder is it to play someone inward like that?