LONDON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Ralph Fiennes says he wanted to star in the political thriller, "The Constant Gardener," because his character was an unconventional movie hero.
In the film adaptation of John le Carre's novel, the two-time Oscar nominee plays mild-mannered diplomat Justin Quayle, a man more comfortable tending his garden than trying to right the wrongs of the world.
When his beautiful activist wife (played by Rachel Weisz) is murdered, he risks all to find her killer and to finish the important work she started.
"He is a gentle, passive figure who doesn't qualify for heroic status to begin with," the actor said of his character, while talking to reporters in London. "What I loved about it was not that he becomes an action hero, but he just grows in internal stature and strength and determination and I love that he has his uncertainties about his marriage. ... I love the way that, actually, it's about the affirmation of their love for each other -- even after she's dead."
"The Constant Gardener" is in theaters now.
