Fiennes to play Dark Lord

Ralph Fiennes will play Voldemort - He Who Must Not Be Named - in the fourth Harry Potter movie.

12:38 05 August 2004

Ralph Fiennes will play Voldemort - He Who Must Not Be Named - in the fourth Harry Potter movie.

Producers Warner Bros also announced that Miranda Richardson, who played Queenie in "Blackadder II", would take on the role of mean-spirited reporter Rita Skeeter for the film version of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire".

In the first film Voldemort was computer generated (and lived in the back of another character's head), in the second he was just 16 (and called Tom Riddle) and in the third film he hardly featured.

However, fans of the books will know that the Dark Lord takes on a much bigger role in the next two instalments - moving from underlying threat to a re-born mortal enemy - and so Fiennes has been added to the cast.

Fiennes has been twice nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar, for his performances in "Schindler's List" and "The English Patient". He joins a cast of ever increasing pedigree including Brendan Gleeson, Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon.

Filming has been underway on the new film for some time, but audiences will have to wait until November next year to see Harry take on Voldemort in cinemas.