Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, born in Salisbury on May 27, 1970, is a British actor. Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he began his career in theatre, working with the Royal Shakespeare Company before achieving international fame in 1998. That year, he portrayed William Shakespeare in the Academy Award-winning film *Shakespeare in Love*, a role that earned him a BAFTA nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Award with the rest of the cast, and Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, in *Elizabeth*. His filmography includes titles such as *Enemy at the Gates* (2001), *Luther* (2003), and *The Merchant of Venice* (2004). On television, he gained significant visibility and critical acclaim for his portrayal of Commander Fred Waterford in the dystopian series *The Handmaid's Tale* (2017-2021), for which he received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.