On the Verge: ‘The Loneliest Boy in the World’ Star Hero Fiennes Tiffin
They say good things come in threes, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin is having a great year with his trifecta of films. This past summer, the British actor reprised his romantic lead role in After Ever Happy, the fourth installment of the popular pulpy After film series based on Anna Todd’s novels of the same name. He followed that up with a more sinister role in the powerful Viola Davis action film, The Woman King. Now, Fiennes Tiffin stars in the zombie comedy The Loneliest Boy in the World, playing a corpse dug up by an eccentric teenager (played by Max Harwood) looking to make a new friend.
Loneliest Boy premiered at the horror festival Screamfest on October 13 before debuting the following day theatrically. It will be available on VOD beginning October 18, 2022.
Fiennes, who turns 25 on November 6, spoke to Casting Networks about his latest film, his early beginnings as a child actor, and what it’s like to come from a famous family (yes, Ralph and Joseph Fiennes are his uncles).
You got the part in The Loneliest Boy after a Zoom meeting with director Martin Owen. How did it feel not to have to audition for the part?
I’m so lucky to be getting to that point [in my career] where you get offers, and the filmmaker trusts you. You kind of go, “Do you not want me to tape? Are you sure I can do this role?” A part of you still wants to prove yourself. But it’s very flattering to know that people trust you that much to hire you from previous work.
It’s that feeling of, “I don’t want to mess up your movie; are you sure you don’t want to see me read first before you hand me the role?”
That’s exactly the feeling. Recently, I had a meeting for a film where they were interested in me and only speaking to me. I met the director, and he was lovely. Then a few days later, they were like, do you mind just doing a couple of scenes for us? If I had been asked to audition [before the director’s meeting], I wouldn’t have put any pressure on myself. It would have been my role to take, not mine to lose. But now it was the opposite. I was in this position of having to put myself on tape to prove it. How embarrassing would it have been if they went, “Ooooh, I’m glad we asked you to do the tape because you’re not quite…” Luckily, they didn’t say that. Luckily, they did like it, and we are going to move forward. But even if you get to such a fortunate stage of “offer only,” it can still mess with your head of how right you are for the role.
Your undead character in The Loneliest Boy in the World has a bit of a Weekend at Bernie’s vibe to him. Then the audience sees more undead exhumed, and you all come to life. How do you play a dead guy?
Ironically, the trick is, don’t ask yourself that question, and play him like he’s alive. All of us who played the undead characters ended up with the same approach: We were going to be happy-go-lucky people because we didn’t have anything to fear—we’re already dead! So you play them like ordinary people. The prosthetics guys make you look like zombies, but your acting is quite the opposite.
In your relatively young career, what do you consider your big break?
After was definitely my big break. The audition came during a week when I literally had an audition every day. It’s like, you go months without any auditions, and suddenly, they all come at once. Then you’re like, wait, this character is from what project? That line is from which script? They all get a bit jumbled up. I remember being a bit stressed when I did the After audition and thinking I was not going to do very well. But sometimes when you go, “I’m just going to go in and do it,” as opposed to saying, “I have to get this role,” you do your better work. Then I was flown out to L.A. for a chemistry read, and that’s when it started to be like, “Oh, I’m close to this one, I’m really excited for it, I really want to get it.” Then my agent and I started putting other auditions on ice and made this the priority. I was so lucky they saw something in me and gave me the role.
What do you consider your first significant role?
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was definitely the first big thing I did. [Ed: Then 10-year-old Fiennes Tiffin played 11-year-old Tom Riddle, who grows up to be Lord Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes]. I didn’t even know I wanted to be an actor at that point. All the auditions I did gave me days off school, so the incentive for acting at first was to get off school. One day, my mom [film director Martha Fiennes] said there was an audition for Harry Potter and did I want to go. I was thinking in my head, I’m never gonna get it, but it was another day off school. Seven callbacks and auditions later, I got the role. I remember burying my head into the sofa and screaming with joy. I never thought that would happen. It was just supposed to be a day off school!
More like seven days off school!
Actually, seven days plus filming, which was, like, three weeks! So yeah, I racked up a lot of days off school.
The Woman King was a surprise hit this year as a late summer entry at the box office. In a primarily female, Black cast, you play a cruel slave trader. Tell me how you got that role.
As soon as I got the audition, I was like, “I want this.” I did the audition and then was told I would have a Zoom call with the film’s director, Gina Prince-Bythewood. The only time we could make the Zoom work was while I was doing press for the After movie. I literally finished a press interview and went straight into a director interview, which was a live Zoom with Gina. There was someone else reading the other characters’ roles. Gina would give me notes. The whole process was about 15 minutes, and I did a few different takes. Then Gina said, “thanks a lot,” and about a week later, we got the email saying the role was mine.
I was so, so happy she hired me. I am honored and proud to be a part of that film. I loved the process. I’m thrilled to be acting on the screen amongst some legends and bringing that story to life.
Your mom is a film director. Your father, George Tiffin, is a cinematographer. Your uncles Ralph and Joseph Fiennes are critically acclaimed actors. Do you ever turn to your uncles for help in preparing for roles?
I probably should, because I may not get as many nos if I let them help me [laughs]. But to be honest, they’re so busy. My mom’s one of eight kids. It’s a big family. They’ve got lives of their own. Whenever I end up seeing them, it’s maybe once a year or every two years. And yes, they’re always so kind and supportive of me, my career, and my decisions. But I’ve yet to chain them to the radiator and grill them on how to do what they do. I know I’ve got some big shoes to fill. I’m very lucky to come from the family I come from and to have had the opportunities that I’ve had.
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