Eddie Redmayne covers Mr. Porter, pretends hes not Oscar campaigning
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.
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