'The Mother' Villain Joseph Fiennes Praises Jennifer Lopez's 'Extraordinary Work Ethic' (Exclusive)

Joseph Fiennes couldn't have asked for a more formidable on-screen opponent, nor a more hardworking co-star, than Jennifer Lopez. The Emmy-nominated actor opened up to PopCulture.com about playing the villain in Netflix's new film, The Mother, opposite Lopez's retired assassin ahead of the action movie's Friday, May 12 premiere on the streamer.

Fiennes was intrigued by the "epic" and "thrilling" script of The Mother, as well as the chance to work with Lopez, whose character will stop at nothing to protect her daughter from Fiennes' character – a "really heinous, horrible, despicable person" looking for revenge on his former associate. "It's got, at the heart of it, this beautiful mother-daughter relationship that's all about reconnecting and bonding in the face of horrible people trying to destroy that union," he noted.

Working with Lopez so closely, especially during the film's snowy fight scene teased in the trailer, was "super fun" as well. "She's great to work with, has an extraordinary work ethic, and is so prepared," The Handmaid's Tale alum gushed. "That made the fight even more tense. So you throw in her brilliant understanding of choreography and fight moves and action, and you put in a very snowy, icy mountaintop, and you throw in a lens in my eye so I can't see out of one of them, and then it becomes quite a tense scene. But I loved it, and it was great fun. And she's great fun."

He joked of his own role in the fight, "I'd love to sit here and say, 'Yeah, I do all my own stunts, and that's all me,' but that is just not the case. It would be a blatant lie." Fiennes praised the "extraordinary team" of stunt people and choreographers who did "all the heavy lifting" for him, joking, "I come in for a quick villainous look, and then they continue and make me look good."

The Mother is a "huge film" that is "full of scope," scenery and action, Fiennes added. "The cinematography is extraordinary and stylish – it's muscular. And at the heart of it is this beautiful, beautiful heart-rending story of a mother and a daughter reconnecting." The Mother premieres Friday, May 12 on Netflix.