Ralph Fiennes attends press conference for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” at Berlinale

Berlin International Film Festival headed to a great start today when Ralph Fiennes’s (Voldemort) newest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, opened the event. The Harry Potter actor attended the press conference ahead of the film’s premiere with director Wes Anderson, producer Jeremy Dawson, and fellow cast members William Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, and Tilda Swinton.

The film is set around the life of a well-known hotel concierge by the name of Gustave H. Played by Fiennes, the concierge is given a painting after a one night stand of his is killed, after which he is then framed for the murder by the woman’s son.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote how Anderson spoke of Fiennes during the conference and how the lead role had been written with him in mind. However, he let the actor pick the part himself, joking, “One of the best ways to get an actor not to be in your film is to offer them a part.”

Fiennes in return spoke of working with the director, exclaiming, “I think to be in a film where a filmmaker is allowed to make the film he wants to make is very rare.”

The Grand Budapest Hotel hits cinemas March 7.