Ralph Fiennes Was Asked To Give Harry Potter's New Voldemort Advice, And I Didn't Expect A Funny Lesson About Robes And Tights
It's silly, but great, advice.

At the moment, Ralph Fiennes is getting ready to play President Snow, a key Hunger Games character in Sunrise on the Reaping, who was originated on screen by Donald Sutherland. However, he’s also in Sutherland’s place with a different franchise, as we begin to wonder who will play Voldemort in HBO’s Harry Potter series. So, with that in mind, the original Dark Lord gave some silly yet sensible advice to the actor who will eventually take over the role.
Now, while the main Harry Potter trio has been cast alongside key Hogwarts faculty, like Dumbledore, who John Lithgow will play, we haven’t heard anything about Voldemort. That makes sense, because we don’t actually see He Who Must Not Be Named in his full form until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. So, odds are, it’ll be a while before he’s cast.
However, Ralph Fiennes is already giving advice to the actor who will take on the role, as he told ET:
My advice is make sure you can handle the long flowing robes and don't trip over them. Practice your long, flowing, robe walk.
Again, while sort of a funny response, it’s 100% practical. The Conclave actor’s signature look as Voldemort was a long, billowing black robe. I imagine it can be difficult to look effortlessly menacing while trying to walk, and I would assume it’s an especially hard costume to fight in. So, practicing his walk in the robes makes sense.
Considering the Harry Potter movies are some of Fiennes' best films, it’s safe to say he nailed the robe walk, and he was truly terrifying as Voldemort, flowing robes and all.
So, whoever lands the role should heed his advice, and maybe learn from this next story about tights, too:
Initially, I wore tights that were one piece. So they had a gusset which then kept getting lower and lower through the shooting day and became uncomfortable. So, then I said, 'I want to have individual tights like a garter belt.' So, I enjoyed teasing the stunt guys by lifting up my robes and showing them my garter belt.
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Listen, if it works, it works, and comfort and function are always key. I’d imagine it’d be hard to move period with tights that were constantly riding down. And I assume it would up the probability of tripping over those robes The Grand Budapest Hotel actor was talking about. So, he found a solution, and it seems like it might be a wardrobe tip the new Voldemort should take, too.
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So, to any actors who might want to play this iconic role and follow in the footsteps of Fiennes, I hope you're listening.
Now, as we inch closer to the Harry Potter series, and eventually the introduction of its biggest villain, I hope we get some more sage and silly advice from Fiennes about how to play him. However, for now, this will have to do, and you can go back and watch his brilliant performance as Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies by streaming them with an HBO Max subscription.

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.
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