Ralph Fiennes: From Quiz Show to Harry Potter

Queen Tuffett loaned me the movie Quiz Show recently, and as I watched it, I found myself totally mesmerized by Ralph Fiennes. Ralph Fiennes is the actor who plays Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies, but in Quiz Show, he's the handsome young protagonist.

My favorite screenshot:

Look at that smile! Look at those eyes! Isn't he just charming?

What are some other words for charming? I don't really like any of the options thesaurus.com is giving me.

Click the image to make it bigger (it's totally worth it).

Ok, check this out. Here he is, looking handsome:

Aaaaaaaand, cue the charm:

Awwwww.

Here are two of his more serious faces (look at those eyes!):

Ha, what a great expression.

Ok, moving on to Voldie.

When I think of Voldemort, I think of this:

I've always loved how Ralph Fiennes holds the wand in the movies. It's so refined, so elegant. Voldemort's classy. I mean, at least as far as evil dark wizards go.

Incidentally, you can still see Ralph Fiennes' great eyes in Voldemort, but only in a few scenes. You can, for example, see them here:

And here:

Now comes my favorite part: let's put them together! Side-by-side comparisons of Charles Van Doren (who was not nearly as handsome as Ralph Fiennes in real life) and Voldemort:

Aside from the completely different use of lighting and makeup, I love how different his smile is. As Charlie, he gives a real smile that goes all the way to his eyes. As Voldemort, the corners of his mouth tip down, not up, and his eyes remain wide open and menacing.

There's something in his nose too, or what would be his nose if Voldemort had a nose... Voldemort's sneering, not smiling.

This is the closest we get to a true smile from Voldemort, but it's still more of a grimace.

I'm just delighted at how well Ralph Fiennes portrays these two characters, who are at polar opposite ends of the spectrum of morality and affability. He does a great job. Also, Tom Riddle was allegedly bright and charming when he was younger, so Ralph Fiennes was a good pick for the role, in that he was indeed bright and charming in this earlier role. Oh, and he sings, too (see Prince of Egypt--he was Rameses).

I appreciate good talent.

The end.