Ralph Fiennes felt ‘flattered' when he learned Pope Leo XIV had watched Conclave
Conclave actor Ralph Fiennes said he felt 'flattered' when he learned the new Pope had watched the Oscar-winning film that sees his character arrange a papal gathering to elect the next head of the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIV made history as the Church's first American pontiff when he was elected leader in early May, following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday.
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The Pope's older brother, John Prevost, told NBC News that the former cardinal watched the movie before voting in the conclave began – so he would know 'how to behave'.
Pope Leo XIV waves at the end of a Mass for the Jubilee of Families in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican (Andrew Medichini/AP)
In an appearance on The One Show, Fiennes was asked about the film and whether he felt surprised at the news Pope Leo XIV had watched the movie.
'Didn't his brother suggest he watch it, so he could learn how a Conclave went or something? And I was of course flattered,' he told the show.
Asked what he said to his brother before the conclave, Mr Prevost told NBC News in May: 'I said: 'Are you ready for this? Did you watch the movie Conclave, so you know how to behave?''
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'And he had just finished watching the movie Conclave, so he knew how to behave,' he said with a laugh.
Fiennes, 62, played Cardinal Lawrence in the film, also starring Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, that was adapted from Robert Harris's novel of the same name.
He was nominated for leading actor gongs at the Oscars and Baftas earlier in the year, but missed out both times to Adrien Brody – who won for his role playing Laszlo Toth in historical epic The Brutalist.
Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci and Edward Berger attends the BFI London Film Festival gala screening of Conclave (Ian West/PA)
Overall, however, the film performed well during awards season and won the adapted screenplay Oscar and four Baftas for best film, adapted screenplay, editing and outstanding British film.
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Fiennes, also known for playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series, appeared on the show to discuss Theatre Royal Bath's new staging of William Shakespeare play As You Like It, which he is directing.
He said: 'I've done a lot of serious Shakespeare tragedies and histories with a lot of blood and gore and angst, and I just felt compelled by As You Like It.
'It's a wonderful play of spontaneous young love. And I've not been in it, so I have no baggage about having been in it.
'I've seen it before, and it's something about young love, young people transformed by love, by desire, in the context of a forest where, like in A Midsummer Night's Dream, their personalities, who they are, their sense of themselves, is changed by love and by nature.'
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