Latest news with #RalphFiennes'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The next Pope? You wouldn't know him.
'We're about to choose the most famous man in the world,' Ralph Fiennes' character tells a fellow cardinal in the movie "Conclave." That is not how I would define the role of the cardinals now gathering in Rome for a real-life papal conclave, but it's accurate enough: Pope Francis very likely was the world's most famous man at the time of his death April 21. But before March 13, 2013, he was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, SJ, and unless you worked in Vatican City or lived in Buenos Aires, there's a good chance you had never heard of him. It is wise to keep that in mind as the world anticipates the election of Francis' successor. The next pope might be a household name by the end of May. In Vatican City, he is almost certainly well-known already — Hollywood intrigue aside, no secret cardinals will grab the spotlight in Rome. The cardinals will vote for someone they know and trust. But when they do, the rest of us, even the pundits making their short lists, are liable to hear the name announced from the balcony of St. Peter's and say, 'Who?' In 2013, I had an assignment to write a quick reaction piece as soon as the new pope was announced. I read a lot of experts' lists and rankings of all the front-runners, just as many are doing now. It did me no good: I heard 'Bergoglio' and had to start my research from scratch ('He's a Jesuit? That can't be right!'). Watch the video of that announcement and you can hear the same reaction from the masses assembled in St. Peter's Square when they hear the name 'Bergoglio.' They respond not with a roar of recognition, as they did when Benedict XVI was elected ('Ratzinger' being a familiar name), but with an excited rumble of consternation, more like when Karol Wojtyla, better known as John Paul II, was announced in 1978. It's the sound of every person turning to their neighbor and saying, 'Who?' The tools we use to handicap an election in the United States aren't much good at forecasting popes. For one thing, the American view of 'liberal' and 'conservative' — already an awkward fit for American Catholics — is a truly inadequate framework for understanding the priorities and divisions of the Catholic hierarchy in the Vatican. And for those hoping for the first American pontiff, think of the view from Rome: if you were choosing someone to run a global organization headquartered in Europe in 2025, would you want to put an American in charge? Although the College of Cardinals isn't above politicking, the campaigning will happen where the rest of us can't see it. That's where the horse race analysis really fails us: there's no base of voters, no constituents to win over, outside the college itself. And the cardinals whom ordinary people want to talk about — the high-profile ones, the reactionary ones, the ones with a whiff of scandal — are, for that very reason, unlikely to be trusted by a supermajority of their colleagues. Catholics believe the Holy Spirit has a role to play in guiding the cardinal electors. The workings of the Holy Spirit have produced one surprise after another, including three non-Italian popes in a row, when even one seemed unimaginable until 1978. Now, it's hard to say what a 'predictable' choice looks like, and the possibilities are more diverse than ever. One of the pope's most important responsibilities is deciding which men (and, even now, it's nearly always men) to put in positions of power. Francis took that responsibility seriously, and the cardinals he appointed are not reactionaries or provocateurs. The bishops he elevated to the role of cardinal are men after his own heart, committed to reaching out to the margins (many of them represent dioceses that were not traditionally honored with the 'red hat' of a cardinal) and supportive of the slow, collaborative decision-making process that the Church calls 'synodality.' And they are like him in another way: if you're not a Vatican-watcher, there's no reason you would have heard of them. In the end, that may be the most interesting fact about the next pope — how little any of us know or can predict about what will happen next. We should prepare to be surprised, not only by the name announced from the balcony, but also by who that man decides to be once he dons the white cassock, and where he will take the church between now and the next time a conclave gathers. This article was originally published on
Metro
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Cardinals are actually watching Conclave to learn how to choose next Pope
It has been reported that Ralph Fiennes' hit Oscar-winning movie Conclave is having an unusual impact as selection for the next pope begins. As bizarre as it may sound, reports have suggested that some of the 133 high-ranking clerics who are set to choose the next Pope have turned to the 2024 film for pointers. 'Some have watched it in the cinema,' a cleric involved in the real thing told POLITICO. Apparently, the film is considered a useful research tool as the cleric told the outlet that many believe it is 'remarkably accurate', particularly as so many people involved in the decision-making will have little experience of Vatican protocol. Some of the cardinals who were appointed by the late pontiff and have arrived in Rome since the death of Pope Francis on April 21 have never experienced a conclave before. The cardinals are set to gather at the Sistine Chapel today, on May 7, when the conclave begins. The 2024 historical drama Conclave follows Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) organising a conclave to elect the next pope. The cardinal soon finds himself investigating secrets and scandals about the major candidates, as the election process goes seriously awry. The movie also stars John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini, with Edward Berger directing. While Conclave is not based on a true story, there are a lot of moments in the selection of a new pope that are accurate. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris, who consulted with the late English cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor on the details of his book. Conclave was a huge smash during awards season taking home four awards in total, including best film and best British film at the Baftas. More Trending The film was nominated for 12 Bafta awards in total, making it the one to beat during the awards season. During the Academy Awards, the film only managed to snag one award for best adapted screenplay, despite being nominated for eight awards. The film also won two Critics' Choice Awards after being nominated for 11 awards. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: How is the next pope chosen? Vatican to begin selection of new pontiff MORE: Nuns on the run after Pope called in to help resolve row over prosecco brewing MORE: Trump follows up bizarre Pope post with image posing as Star Wars beefcake
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ralph Fiennes Debuts New Body Transformation at 62
New images of Ralph Fiennes' toned and muscular physique emerged on social media, leading to widespread awe and surprise amongst fans. The actor also grew a thick, shaggy beard. This new transformation is related to Ralph Fiennes' upcoming film, The Return, based on Homer's Odyssey, where the 62-year-old actor will essay the role of lead hero Odysseus. Fiennes co-stars alongside Juliette Binoche, who plays Odysseus' wife, Penelope. Here is Ralph Fiennes' new body transformation for the Odyssey adaptation, The Return, which is turning many fans' heads, explored. On April 12, 2025, a verified fan account of Ralph Fiennes shared pictures of the Lord Voldemort actor's toned physique, captioning the post with a bicep emoji. The account again shared some more pictures two days later, crediting Fiennes' personal trainer, Dan Avasilcai, in the captions. After the above pictures hit social media, fans had all sorts of reactions to the actor's ripped look. One fan expressed disbelief at the pictures, wondering about their authenticity and asking Grok AI if they were real. 'Voldemort should have just challenged Harry to an arm wrestling match,' a fan jokingly commented. Another fan asked if the Conclave star was 'going to out Odysseus Damon?,' a reference to Matt Damon playing Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's upcoming action epic, The Odyssey. To achieve the physique of the classical Greek hero, Fiennes underwent a strict training regimen and ate a particular diet, which was rich in protein, complex carbohydrates, and veggies, all to lose the fat in his body. In an interview with The Guardian, The Menu actor revealed that The Return's director, Uberto Pasolini, did not want him to have a 'sort of bulked-up gym body.' Fiennes then recalled telling his trainer Avasilcai that his take on Odysseus 'should look like a bit of old rope.' In the same interview, Pasolini revealed his initial suspicions about Fiennes' training regimen, where he thought a lot of protein was going into the actor's body, which made him believe that the final result would be that of an 'exercised body' instead of a 'consumed' and 'lived body.' Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on ComingSoon. The post Ralph Fiennes Debuts New Body Transformation at 62 appeared first on Mandatory.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ralph Fiennes Surprises Fans With Body Transformation
New images of Ralph Fiennes' toned and muscular physique emerged on social media, leading to widespread awe and surprise amongst fans. The actor also grew a thick, shaggy beard. This new transformation is related to Ralph Fiennes' upcoming film, The Return, based on Homer's Odyssey, where the 62-year-old actor will essay the role of lead hero Odysseus. Fiennes co-stars alongside Juliette Binoche, who plays Odysseus' wife, Penelope. Here is Ralph Fiennes' new body transformation for the Odyssey adaptation, The Return, which is turning many fans' heads, explored. On April 12, 2025, a verified fan account of Ralph Fiennes shared pictures of the Lord Voldemort actor's toned physique, captioning the post with a bicep emoji. The account again shared some more pictures two days later, crediting Fiennes' personal trainer, Dan Avasilcai, in the captions. After the above pictures hit social media, fans had all sorts of reactions to the actor's ripped look. One fan expressed disbelief at the pictures, wondering about their authenticity and asking Grok AI if they were real. 'Voldemort should have just challenged Harry to an arm wrestling match,' a fan jokingly commented. Another fan asked if the Conclave star was 'going to out Odysseus Damon?,' a reference to Matt Damon playing Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's upcoming action epic, The Odyssey. To achieve the physique of the classical Greek hero, Fiennes underwent a strict training regimen and ate a particular diet, which was rich in protein, complex carbohydrates, and veggies, all to lose the fat in his body. In an interview with The Guardian, The Menu actor revealed that The Return's director, Uberto Pasolini, did not want him to have a 'sort of bulked-up gym body.' Fiennes then recalled telling his trainer Avasilcai that his take on Odysseus 'should look like a bit of old rope.' In the same interview, Pasolini revealed his initial suspicions about Fiennes' training regimen, where he thought a lot of protein was going into the actor's body, which made him believe that the final result would be that of an 'exercised body' instead of a 'consumed' and 'lived body.' The post Ralph Fiennes Surprises Fans With Body Transformation appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
New York Times
17-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Briefing: How should we feel about Newcastle's cup win – and what's happened to Chelsea?
Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend's football. This was the weekend when Manchester City once again failed to record a victory, drawing 2-2 at home to Brighton, Nottingham Forest consolidated third place with a 4-2 win over Ipswich, Tottenham lost once more and Manchester United got a restorative victory over Leicester. Here we will discuss Newcastle winning their first trophy in generations, Chelsea's regression in the second half of the season and ponder whether this will be the worst group of relegated teams the Premier League has ever seen. In the recent film Conclave, about the selection of a new pope, Ralph Fiennes' character, Cardinal Lawrence, gives a speech about the virtue of doubt, how certainty and dogmatism are not necessarily good things. That sprang to mind at the end of Sunday's Carabao Cup final, in which Newcastle had beaten Liverpool with a more convincing performance than the 2-1 scoreline suggests. Advertisement Liverpool were terrible, maybe their worst performance of the season, and it's difficult to recall a time when they have played as badly in a final. The thought occurs that, while the added calm brought by new head coach Arne Slot since the summer is one of the reasons they're going to win the Premier League title, could it be that these one-off occasions require a little more blood, a little more aggression, a little more… Jurgen Klopp? Klopp did lose his first three finals as Liverpool manager, so it's probably best not to lean into that theory too hard. Not least because they weren't really allowed to play well yesterday, completely shut down, dominated and bullied by Newcastle. It seemed like everyone in black and white was in tears at the end of the game, and with good reason: this was Newcastle's first domestic major trophy since the 1955 FA Cup and their first significant trophy of any description since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (a precursor to today's Europa League). Generations have known only disappointment, nine straight defeats in Wembley finals since that victory 70 years ago. For the fans who lived the ennui of the Mike Ashley years, this is what they've been dreaming about. For the neutral, too, it's undeniably a positive that someone from outside the usual crowd has won a major trophy. Since 2010, the only teams not named Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal to have won one of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup are Birmingham, Swansea, Wigan and Leicester. A break in the inevitability of the biggest clubs hoovering up all the honours is to be welcomed. And yet this is where Cardinal Lawrence's doubt is relevant: while it's good to see emotion and a different team succeeding, this isn't a fairy tale story. It isn't churlish to wish that the team who have broken the hegemony of the big boys weren't one owned by Saudi Arabia, a club being used by a state to further its own goals. Advertisement Every success that Newcastle enjoy is another piece of validation for a country that, just this week, established a government unit to police 'immoral acts'. The sight of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Newcastle and also governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) holding the trophy aloft on the Wembley pitch after the game, should be sufficient riposte to anyone who thinks the club has nothing to do with the Saudi state. It's possible to hold these two things in your head at the same time. As Cardinal Lawrence says in the film, embrace the uncertainty. Back in December, it seemed as if Enzo Maresca had done the implausible even before the halfway point in his debut season as their head coach and had made sense of the broiling chaos that is Chelsea. They looked like one of the only plausible challengers to Liverpool for the title, leaving champions City and their identity crisis in their wake and seeming even more convincing than Arsenal. Cole Palmer was tearing teams apart, Moises Caceido looked more like a £100million player should and Nicolas Jackson was scoring goals. That all feels like a long time ago now we're in the middle of March. Chelsea's season has been split into two extraordinary halves: the first saw them second in the table on 34 points, with just two defeats from 16 games. But since they drew with Everton just before Christmas, it has flipped entirely: in a table only of matches played after that point, they are 15th, below West Ham and Wolves, and perhaps most embarrassingly only above Manchester United on goal difference. They have won just four of their 13 outings since then, and look incapable of creating chances. The performance at Arsenal on Sunday was perhaps a nadir, admittedly without the injured duo of Palmer and Jackson, yet it was still pretty embarrassing that they had 68 per cent possession but only eight touches in the home penalty area. According to Opta, the 0.35 expected goals (xG) they generated was their lowest total yet under Maresca. Perhaps this is just a bad run of form, exacerbated by injuries and fatigue. Or perhaps the first half of the season was the exception, that Maresca was overperforming with a poorly-constructed squad, and these last few months have been closer to Chelsea's true selves. Either way, it's a troubling echo of last season: Maresca's Leicester City started the Championship campaign in similarly rampant form, going 12 points clear at the top of the division in February. Advertisement However, the wheels came off after that, a run of six defeats in 10 meaning that, while they were promoted automatically with plenty of room to spare, the last third of the season was more of a struggle than it should have been. When Maresca then left for Chelsea, there wasn't exactly wailing in the streets among elements of the Leicester support. If Chelsea finish this season in the top four or five, Maresca will have done his job. But they have not looked like a Champions League team for a long time. Last May, on the day when the 2023-24 season's three relegated clubs were all-but confirmed, this column pointed out how historically bad those teams had been. We wrote: 'Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton Town have been just about as bad as many feared they would be… The teams coming up from the Championship for next season will have their flaws, but you just hope they will be better than this intake.' As it has turned out, that was extremely optimistic. The relegated three last season were dreadful, but this lot have been worse. After 29 games, Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester have 43 points between them: that's the least the bottom three have cumulatively gathered in Premier League history at this stage. The next worst was 52 (which happened last season). The gap between Leicester in 18th and Wolves one place clear of the relegation zone is nine points: again, that is the biggest gap at this stage of a season in the 33-year Premier League era. There's only been one previous season where that gap has been more than three points: the relegation battle has never been over this early before. Southampton have nine points, which — and you're probably ahead of us here — is the fewest a Premier League team have ever had after 29 games. Even Derby County, current holders of the record for fewest points in a full season when they ended with 11 in 2007-08, had more than that. If Southampton win all their remaining nine games, which feels a tad unlikely, they will still only have 36 points, a total which would have got you relegated in half of the Premier League seasons to date. Advertisement And they aren't an outlier. The bottom three as a whole have taken one point from the last available 45. If Leicester and Ipswich collect points at the rate they have been all season for the remaining weeks, they will finish on 22 points each: that total would have had you bottom of the table in 23 of the Premier League's previous 32 seasons. They have been pathetic, and part of the reason the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham, suffering historically bad seasons themselves, can be absolutely confident that the worst won't happen. But it is more worrying from a broader perspective: once again, the three promoted teams will be relegated a year later, this time having barely competed. Last season looked a little closer than it was because of Nottingham Forest's PSR points deduction: there hasn't been one this term to partially obscure the deficiencies of the league's worst teams. Maybe next season will be different. Maybe the teams at the top of the 2024-25 Championship, most of whom have been in the top flight quite recently and thus have the parachute-payment cushion, will make a better fist of things. The 'middle class' of the Premier League are now strong enough to disrupt the top half of the table, but those at the bottom are worse than ever.
