Harry Potter star Ralph Fiennes said theatre-goers should be “shocked” and “disturbed” as he spoke out against the use of trigger warnings.
Nowadays people going to the theatre increasingly get warnings that flag up potentially upsetting content like violence or loud noises. However, some actors have called for them to be scrapped.
And Ralph – who played creepy Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise – weighed in during a chat on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. He agreed that there were issues that audiences should be told about, such as things like the use of strobe lighting, which could affect some people’s health.
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But the Schindler’s List and James Bond actor, who is as big a stage star as he is a screen star, believes theatre audiences should feel a bit of shock and surprise. Asked if audiences had “gone too soft”, he agreed: “I think they have.”
The star is currently appearing in a production of Macbeth and didn’t want trigger warnings used for his latest production. He suggested that he would like to get rid of them generally, other than the ones used for health reasons.
“I think we didn’t use to have trigger warnings,” said the 61-year-old. “I mean, they are very disturbing scenes in Macbeth, there are terrible murders and things,” he said.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
“But I think the impact of theatre should be that you’re shocked and you should be disturbed. I don’t think you should be prepared for these things and when I was young… never had trigger warnings for shows.”
He went on: “Shakespeare’s plays are full of murders and full of horror. And as a young student and lover of the theatre I never experienced trigger warnings like, ‘Oh by the way in King Lear, Gloucester is going to have his eyes pulled out.’
“I mean the shock is, ‘Oh my God, this thing is happening’.”
(Image: PA)
He went on: “Theatre has be alive and connect in the present. It’s the shock, it’s the unexpected, that’s what makes theatre so exciting.”
Other celebs to have spoken out against trigger warnings in the theatre include Christopher Biggins and Sir Ian McKellen.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
