How ‘Conclave’ star Ralph Fiennes wrestled with his belief in the movie

What’s the best thing about filming in Rome with Stanley Tucci?

Of course, food. Just ask Ralph Fiennes and director Edward Berger, who worked with Tucci on the new papal political thriller “Conclave” (in cinemas on friday).

“I’ve always enjoyed making movies, but the best part might have been this restaurant that we all went to towards the end, where Stanley cooked with his grandfather who owned the place, and it was great,” says Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”).

But the real advantage came months later, when Berger called the restaurant and asked the owner if there was any way to find a table for him and his mother.

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“’Are you a friend of Stanley’s? Of course!’” Berger says with a laugh.

Fiennes adds: “But you need Stanley Tucci to make everything work.”

Will the duo appear in “The Heart of Italy,” the gastronomic TV adventure directed by Tucci, who is promoting his book? “What I Ate in a Year (and Related Thoughts)”?

Fiennes smiles: “Yes, I’m sure that’s the next one.”

Great food not only nourishes the body, it nourishes the soul as well. And soul was very front and center for Fiennes while making “Conclave.”

“My character doesn’t want the (papal) job and confesses to a friend that he has a problem with prayer, and that feels like an honest confession,” says Fiennes. “He is experiencing a crisis of faith and thinks it is important to ask questions rather than being trapped in the certainty of dogma. “It comes back to the fact that there is a mystery to faith.”

Fiennes, 61, is a serious thespian who gained wider acclaim for his portrayal of James Bond’s tough boss M in the Daniel Craig 007 series. He plays the thoughtful and taciturn Cardinal Lawrence, who, as dean of the famous College of Cardinals, is suddenly thrust into the position of organizing a conclave that becomes the storied vote for a new pope.

At the heart of this Vatican drama are very human flaws such as hubris and greed, as various factions compete for the ultimate power and oversight of the papacy. 1.4 billion Catholics in the world.

Tucci plays Cardinal Bellini, who initially wants his friend Lawrence to become pope, while John Lithgow’s Cardinal Tremblay has his own designs. As in Robert Harris’s 2016 book “Conclave,” the stunning voting result is something more than 200 Cardinals did not expect.

For Fiennes, who describes himself as an old but curious Catholic, the film revived long-standing questions about faith and history. He says he spent a lot of time talking to priests and cardinals about the role.

“I was raised Catholic, but I protested when I was 13,” he explains, adding that the church in Ireland, where he lived as a child, “was very powerful and teaching by priests and nuns was often expedited with the rod.” ”

But despite moving away from the church at a young age, Fiennes remained fascinated by the historical figure of Jesus.

“Who was this Jesus guy preaching in a simple robe and sandals in a Roman-occupied desert landscape?” he says. “If I take all the shells off the churches and the paintings and say, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, who was that guy?’ If you ask: He had a message to help people live their lives with a sense of purpose. So this Cardinal Lawrence is also asking these kinds of questions.”

This deeply personal connection to his “Conclave” character makes for some intense close-ups where you can literally feel Fiennes’ great struggle with his beliefs. The challenge for Berger was to capture this harrowing journey for moviegoers.

“Ralph’s role is a silent role, so it’s mostly played out in front of him,” says Berger. “The miracle of it never ceases to amaze me, as you can see his thoughts unfold.” Tacit.

Fiennes says he signed on to “Conclave” after seeing Berger’s completed cut of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” the third film adaptation of the epic 1929 book about the horrors of World War I. “The great thing about Edward is he takes on films that challenge him, and he’s very open to everything that’s going on that day,” he says.

Berger says he often thinks about the advice Harvey Keitel once gave Quentin Tarantino. “Harvey told him that whatever you do (as a director), don’t take away the actor’s first impression,” he says. “If you fill your actors with ideas for a scene beforehand, then suddenly everything they had to bring to that moment goes out the window.”

Despite the Catholic framework of “Conclave,” Berger says it’s less religious exploration and more “the great (director) Alan J. Pakula’s ‘The Parallax View’ and ‘All the President’s Men.’” “I wanted a movie like this too.”

As “Conclave” rapidly approaches its stunning conclusion, it’s easy to imagine Pakula, who died in 1998 at the age of 70, would be proud.