tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

Read my Lips! 
Londoner with a flair for fashion and art is brilliant and unassuming, take a closer look at Eddie Redmayne!

Right this minute, Eddie Redmayne is one of the most exciting emerging actors and he's not keen on playing the usual boy-next-door roles. In fact, he prefers them dark and nasty. Reserve your sugary, no-brainers for someone else, Redmayne wants something entirely different.

- - -

- - -

Excellent Performance in Savage Grace! You ought to see this movie if only to confirm if Redmayne is truly a talented actor! The last we heard of Savage Grace, some critics had trashed the flick already, though most of them praised the performances of the leads, especially Julianne Moore and this guy! In this adaptation of the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Natalie Robbins and Steven ML Aronson, Redmayne plays the gay son of Barbara Daly (Moore), a young woman who married someone beyond her social class, the heir of a very rich family.

He was also reported to have said something cool about the female lead of Twilight:

"and the legendary Kristen Stewart."

This says a lot! Apparently, he likes Kristen (to be seen next in New Moon of the Twilight saga with another awesome young talent, Robert Pattinson). He has acted alongside Kristen in The Yellow Handkerchief, so apparently he knows the young actress. Did we fail to mention Ellen Page? He likes her too!

Let's get to know him better as we look closely at his movies [ with a comprehensive video clips of some of his best! ]

Getting Started in the Biz: The Good Shepherd may be the film that introduced Eddie Redmayne to American audiences, but this young British actor, who went to school with Prince William, has been making head way in the acting department ever since he started in the theatre about 4 years ago.

To be honest, I got into acting because I loved theater. It's embarrassing how little I know (about film)" says Redmayne.

Growing up in a family that deals with business and high finance, acting seems to be quite a departure. But analyzing balance sheets and giving financial advice to British millionaires is not the destiny of this young man. Even his choice of studies shows an inclination towards a more aesthetic flavor. After earning a degree in art history at Cambridge, Redmayne decided it was time to test the waters and auditioned for roles in theatre.

In just a year, he won the Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards and a year after that he won again at the Critics Circle Theatre Awards. Working with directors Jonathan Kent, Anthony Page, Phil Wilmott, and Tim Carroll enabled him to feel what it was like to stand on stage and deliver his lines. It just seemed the natural thing for him to do. Apparently, he realized then just how much he relishes the very idea of acting.

A number of British actors who started in theatre became big stars in the movies: names like Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier and Peter O'Toole come to mind. While Redmayne is still in the initial stage of learning the tricks of the trade, he is already being regarded as one of today's most talented young actors.

The Good Son: Much has been said about his role in The Good Shepherd and why he was chosen over the many other aspirants who went for the audition. It was reported that the 'Jagger-esque' lips did it for Redmayne.

I saw something on the Internet that said 'Eddie's got lips to rival Angelina's. But they look wrong on him - they look like a duck. I thought that statement started out really well..." Redmayne seems amused.

While Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie played more prominent roles, Redmayne who played their son, held his own with ease. With a commanding on-screen presence that is a mixture of nervous intensity and unabashed charm, Redmayne proved that the acclaim he received in theatre is no fluke. Pursuing the role which he instinctively considers his own, Redmayne went to great length to prove why he was the one:

It took nine months of flying me over to America to actually get the part. One of my closest friends from college lives on the Lower East Side, so I'd call on a moment's notice' narrates Redmayne.

De Niro was also reported to have read a review of Redmayne's performance in "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?" and was impressed.

- - -

- - -

It seems that a number of prominent movie actors have taken to their screen roles with more conviction and skill if they have previous experience in theatre - the challenge of having a live audience and no room for error demands the ability to improvise and a strong commitment to perfection. Some of the UK's new batch of stars have theatre experience, like Ben Whishaw (acclaimed for his role in Hamlet) and of course, Redmayne.

Before Hollywood: But his role in the Good Shepherd is not the only one worth mentioning. Way before movie fanatics put him on the hotlist; he was already turning heads in the indie film 'Like Minds'.

Many may compare this small Australian production to the more popular 'Murder by Numbers', with its bigger, more established stars like Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt, but Redmayne and Toni Collette, who gives a riveting performance as forensic psychologist Sally Rowe, put the film on an almost equal footing. Some have even remarked that it is the better film due to the constant barrage of deliciously delightful British accents!

Reports Australia's CIA: 'Like Minds is so like the original "foreign" source for the Hollywood version of Murder by Numbers that it's spooky: two teenage boys create a web of mind games, murder and deceit until captured by the driven female criminologist. Fortunately, it's not a Hollywood remake so the psychological games aren't merely twisty but twisted, dark and bleak.'

The Right Attitude:

In a year or two I could well have had my moment and it's over. Even if you don't have that fall, you're still going to get criticized. It seems bizarre to me, that stereotype of actors becoming so full of themselves. It's certainly not that situation with me - I'm still living at home," continues Redmayne in the discourse on how aspiring young actors can take a fall if their arrogance remains unchecked.

With such a refreshing attitude and an undeniable ring of truth in Redmayne's seeming lack of care for vanity and 'excessive' publicity, we are certainly in the presence of an actor serious about his craft.

- - -

- - -

What's Next? Redmayne will next be seen in 1939. 1939 is set between present-day London and the idyllic British countryside in the time before the beginning of the Second World War. At a time of uncertainty and high tension, the story revolves around the formidable Keyes family, who are keen to uphold and preserve their very traditional way of life. He'll be working alongside Romola Garai and Julie Christie in this drama to be released this year.

Another anticipated movie is Black Death. In medieval England fallen under the shadow of the Black Death, a young monk called Osmund (Redmayne) is charged in leading a fearsome knight, Ulric and his group of mercenaries to a remote marsh. Their quest is to hunt down a necromancer - someone able to bring the dead back to life. Torn between his love of God and the love of a young woman, Osmund discovers the necromancer, a mysterious beauty called Langiva. After Langiva reveals her Satanic identity and offers Osmund his hearts desire, the horror of his real journey begins.

The Last Word:

 "It's such a thrill for me not to have massive aspirations. I'm so lucky to have done the projects I've done, and if it ended tomorrow I will have had an extraordinary career experience that someone of my age doesn't have a right to have done."

- - -

Eddie Redmayne's profile written by Jed Medina with excerpts from Michael Ventre's interview of Eddie Redmayne at Variety and quotes from the article 'Eddie for the World' appearing in V Magazine (issue #45). Redmayne is currenty represent by PFD. You may also enjoy browsing a live journal dedicated to Eddie Redmayne, with some very delightful and amusing entries to boot!