Ralph Fiennes Reveals the Real Reason He Wore Tights While Playing Lord Voldemort in “Harry Potter”

Fiennes made the admission in an appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live

It turns out Ralph Fiennes wasn't so scary under all those layers and prosthetics as the iconic villain Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films.

During an appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live to promote his new film Conclave, 61-year-old Fiennes shared, "I had to wear tights underneath," when speaking about his character's costume.

When Cohen asked why, Fiennes responded: "Because it was for, well, it was for ease. It was for ease of movement, in theory. The tights, over the course of a few hours, the tights, the gusset, the bit between the legs of the tights."

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"It would come further down, you know, just through moving and talking, so I realized that the way to go was to actually have, what I think, what you guys call a garter belt so that I would have the tights suspended with the gut from my underwear, so I didn't have ... well, each leg would have its own tight. It didn't have to be connected," Fiennes added.

Elsewhere in the discussion, Fiennes joked about "teasing the stunt crew by lifting up my leg" while wearing the costume.

Fiennes appeared as Voldemort in five Harry Potter films: 2005’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

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The franchise, which is based on the book series of the same name and spans eight films, will soon be turned into a television series, with Warner Bros. Discovery confirming that a "a decade-long series" was in the works. The launch date has not yet been announced but Deadline reported that the series could be aiming for a 2025/2026 premiere.