Eddie Redmayne has had a good month. He’s on everyone’s shortlist for Best Actor, he got Golden Globe and SAG nominations for his performance in The Theory of Everything, and God knows, he might even have a real shot at some trophies. Eddie also married his lady, Hannah Bagshawe, earlier this week. So, his personal life is “sorted,” meaning that there’s no real drama or fan-craziness surrounding his personal life. Which makes him a super-nice guy, but once again… he’s not always the best interview. Still, I enjoyed this Mr. Porter cover interview and not just because of all of the references to his color-blindness.
Preparing physically to play Stephen Hawking: “On the first day of filming, we shot three scenes. The first scene was at the start of the film, pre-diagnosis. The second was when Stephen was using two walking sticks. By the third, he was in his second wheelchair. I was terrified. It was like I’d been asked to write a sentence in permanent ink starting with one word at the beginning, one at the middle and one at the end. I was having a complete meltdown – it was four in the morning, I was getting picked up at five, and I hadn’t slept. I was thinking, ‘I can’t start a job like this’.”
He didn’t act for months after TTOE: “I’d just finished filming Jupiter Ascending with the Wachowskis, which involved eating a lot of chicken and doing lots of press-ups. I lost all that weight for Theory. After inhabiting so many different personas, both mentally and physically, I suppose I needed to take some time off to just remember who I am – what my body’s natural state is.”
How he spent this past summer: He spent part of this summer returning to his origins as an art historian, presenting a documentary on the art of WWI. Like Professor Hawking, he is a “Tab” – an alumnus of Cambridge University (the term a shortening of “Cantab”, the post-nominal suffix used to denote a Cambridge graduate). Unlike the venerable prof, though, Mr Redmayne chose art over science, graduating in 2003 with a degree in art history. He wrote his final dissertation on Mr Yves Klein, the mid-century French artist responsible for the vivid shade of ultramarine known as International Klein Blue, and specialised in Venetian architecture and surrealism, but he was never bound for the art world; by the time of his graduation, his acting career was already taking off.
His Oscar chances: “Please don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful compliment… I just hope it serves to get the story out to more people…”
Meeting Steven Hawking: “I met him again just before he saw the film. I said, ‘Stephen, I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think.’ A minute or two passed as he typed away with his eye-tracking software. Then, in that famous, vaguely robotic voice, he replied: ‘I will let you know what I think. Good, or otherwise.’”
He spent his summer vacation working on some art history project that related to his Cambridge degree? SO POSH. Posher than a certain Posh Otter. Speaking of, I got shades of Benedict Cumberbatch when Eddie spoke about his Oscar chances and said “I just hope it serves to get the story out to more people.” The Posh Otter has been saying the same thing, except the Otter has been the centerpiece of one of Harvey Weinstein’s most aggressive campaigns in recent memory. I tend to believe it coming from Redmayne though – I think he hoped that the film would be recognized in some way, but he’s not campaigning at the same level as the Otter. Or maybe I just haven’t been paying attention?
Photos courtesy of Tom Craig/Mr. Porter.
I think he’s been doing a similar level of campaigning – he’s just managed to appear less naked and eye-swivelly and more humble (we all like humble, don’t we?) and gracious about it than poor old Benny, who really has been an #epicfail.
I never understand the #epicfails of award campaigning. For heavens sakes, they’re actors, aren’t they? It’s their job to appear in a certain way! It makes me wonder how many takes they need when they’re on set!
Takes? Are you insinuating that it doesn’t come naturally and they make mistakes? No!
The #epicfails and lack of #epicfail may just indicate who are the better actors.
It often indicates who is less comfortable with dishonesty, but your campaign funder impacts the experience, I suppose. Never know what’s going on behind the scenes.
Moi? MOI?! Would I ever make such a snarky insinuation? Yes. Yes, I would. Exactly, though. How can they not just put on an award campaign hat and keep it up?
I’ll hand it to Tommy – that eager puppy persona might make me reach for my sick bucket, but at least he keeps it up and is consistent about it.
Yes, you most definitely would and rightly so. It is all acting, isn’t it? All part of the job. I suspect the eager puppy will be much on display next year.
I hope so. We can both have our respective/different field days with it!
I have never followed Eddie but have always been impressed with his work but since seeing him in interview and campaign mode I am very impressed.
It could be in the same way that Tom excels at film promotion all three are doing what comes naturally for them.
Tom is naturally effervescent and his PR mode is entertainment interspersed with character analysis ,Eddie tends to be more self effacing but when he does open up he is both amusing ,cultured interesting whilst Benny goes for more dramatic statements to draw people’s attention to the film which do not always work. And Timothy Spall is just a natural raconteur who has no time for bullshit and pretension.
During the round table conversation when someone brought up why UK actors are so respected Benny went on about historical background ,Eddie said how much he admired Spall in a National performance and Spall told a funny story about classical actors leaving poohs around the national but added later they would all jump at films given the chance. It pretty much said it all for me, Mind you if Tom had been there he would have waxed enthusiastically about Shakespeare and how he impacts on all his performances.
Yep, exactly Sixer. He’s doing it but not acting like someone is holding his mum hostage.and everything is annoying him.
Yeah, I don’t really understand what the problem is. I can kind of see how some actors might fall into the Anne Hathaway trap of overdoing it and seeming way too eager. The grumpy Oscar campaign confuses me, though.
My cosmo psychology hat on about Cumbers….hes very very ambitious, wants the awards and the huge career but considers himself above the campaigning but also…a part if him lives for it.
Either way…cheer the fook up about it.
He does seem more humble than Benedict. BC is slowly veering into the “out of touch with reality” category.
There’s posh, then there’s pretentious. These guys (you all know who I’m talking about) can’t help the way they were brought up. I don’t think how he spent his summer is very pretentious, it was his major and having a passion outside acting is a good thing. A documentary about an artist neatly blends the two. The way the excerpt was written makes itsound over the top but that’s in the writer. ED is just doing is thing. Another one is signing country music. And the last….well…
Oh he’s working it alright. He’s been to all the parties and has done just as many interviews as all the rest (meaning Benedict and Keaton). But some don’t want to see it, so they don’t. Meh. He, Benedict and Keaton have been invited to all the usual roundtables. As for wanting the Hawking story out there, I do believe most people know the story already. Its not the first time his private story has been told either in one form or another. Eye-roll on that one.
Actually, no, most people outside the science world don’t know the Hawking story. Have you seen the film?
Most people, even if they don’t know his theories, know him. He’s kinda famous that way. He was famous enough to get several books published, as well as several documentaries and a couple of cameos on some pretty famous TV shows (Star Trek, The Simpsons, Futurama). BTW, what does seeing a film have to do with whether or not the general public knows who Hawking is?
@Delorb I know his face, but I have no idea of what he did. So perhaps a younger generation gets to know his story watching this movie.
Ah, and now you have jumped away from your original statement to something else entirely. Knowing who Hawking is or knowing he has written books is quite different than knowing the Hawking story.
I asked if you had seen the film because you sound like you haven’t.
Oh my gawd! Are you two seriously saying that Hawking isn’t part of the pop culture at this point? That the average person outside his field wouldn’t know who the guy in the wheelchair and synthetic voice is? Jeez. And again, seeing the film has nothing to do with whether or not he’s WELL KNOWN. He’s kinda famous already. He’s written books that have sold millions. Everyday people have purchased his books. Everyday people have watched his documentaries on the universe. He gives lectures the world over. During which he talks about his life. He’s not someone who Eddie has to bring to the world.
@Delorb, is your problem with Hawking or with ER? No, the story of how Hawking’s illness and the fact that he has survived more than 30 years beyond his life expectancy is NOT known to the world. And are movies only supposed to cover events that aren’t known to the world? I knew about the enigma code and Bletchley Park, and yes, Alan Turing, when I was in high school. So, no need for any more movies covering any aspect of World War II, right? Because after all, we all know how it ended. Oh, my local museum has a really famous Turner painting and one of the curator’s gives a fascinating tale of its subject matter and the technique he used to paint it, so no need for that film either, right?
And Delorb, I saw the film. His performance is worthy of the accolades he is receiving for it and I enjoyed the film. Despite his illness and the disintegration of the marriage, the film ends on an extremely positive note. I see most if not all films that are contenders and I usually have an excellent prediction rate for nominees and winners. And again, knowing Hawking because he is famous and knowing the Hawking story are two very different things.
Oh, of course he’s campaigning. His movie opened weeks ago, and we’re still seeing an interview with him or a picture of him at some event in a snazzy suit every couple of days. It’s just that his campaign is less annoying than some otter people’s.
I’ll say that I think it’s true that he hopes this means more people see the film. A lot of people do rely on awards nominations when deciding whether they see biopics of scientists and mathetmeticians and odd little art films. Hell, a movie like this isn’t even going to be shown in my local theater until after the Oscar nominations. By the same token, I’m sure Eddie would really like at least a nomination for the sake of his own career. He’s not especially famous, at least not in the US, and something like this probably would make a difference in terms of what roles he’s offered. I’m feeling generous today, so I’ll say that I think both things are true of a lot of awards nominees, and that the feelings aren’t all that contradictory.
Well, it is true. Oscar campaigns bring a level of promo these types of movies wouldn’t get otherwise, and that translates into more people seeing it who otherwise wouldn’t have.
I think this is true. Think about how many people are more likely to seek out Birdman, Theory of Everything and Imitation Game because of the awards buzz.
And even the least campaigning sounding actor or actress is campaigning for a nod and a win…it’s how the game is played, whether we like it or not. Eddie seems to be planning his as “I’m just happy to be here guys and the more attention my film gets, the happier I am.”
I’ve been trying to see The Imitation Game because the story interests me; Enigma fascinates me, and we were all set to see it on Thanksgiving. But then they decided to play awards games with the scheduling and pushed it back to last weekend. I’m a bit busy with the holiday crush and other movies are now competing for my attention. Friends see movies based on my recommendations. I can’t recommend what I haven’t seen.