OK, here’s the full disclosure on this one: I’ve been whining (translation: all but kissing the boss’s toes) to do a piece on Eddie Redmayne since darn-near the first day I started at BNH.
I was semi-smitten back in the days of “The Other Boleyn Girl”, when suddenly, the quietly-handsome guy playing William Stafford seemed an extremely good excuse for Mary Boleyn to buck her famous family and elope. In the same year, there he was again, fast-forwarded into yummy Victorian garb for the BBC adaptation of “Tess of the D’Ubervilles”, playing the tragic and romantic Angel Clare opposite Gemma Arterton.
I was pleased with those adaptations of two of my favorite books—but when Tandem Entertainment announced it was taking “Pillars of the Earth” to the small screen, my guard was up. Waaayy up. You fellow “Kingsbridge groupies” know where I’m coming from. “Pillars” isn’t just a book; it’s an experience, and the part of Jack is one of the story’s vital supports. To this day, I’ve not spoken with another fan who doesn’t think Redmayne filled the role with every drop of humility, sexuality and passion we wanted—nay, needed!—from Jack.
So, I’ve gotten away with keeping Eddie to myself in the year since then, having him as my secret British treasure—but the folks at The Weinstein Company had other ideas. Redmayne was pursued early on to play the part of Colin Clark in their newest darling, “My Week With Marilyn”, bringing to life the part of a movie-set nube who is launched into the mini-Universe surrounding Marilyn Monroe, as she arrived in England to film “The Prince and the Showgirl”.
And just like that, the world is in on my secret. The film is not only “le buzz” of H-wood these days, with a near-guaranteed Oscar nod to Michelle Williams in the title role, but has just about everyone and their casting director sitting up to take notice of her gorgeous ginger co-star. The Huffington Post, siting Redmayne’s “chiseled looks”, goes on in the same sentence to gift him with a “boy next door” quality: a combination that’s essential for pulling off the duties of the story’s point-of-view character. Across the pond, Eddie’s homeland is also smitten: the Daily Mail proclaims, “Redmayne excels…in the challenging task of playing Clark.” Even U.S. Vogue has jumped on the Mayne-iac Machine, featuring my man (yes, I’m still calling him my man; I’m in a bit of denial) along with the stunning Karlie Kloss in a spread titled “Temptation Island”. OK, so do you have to rub it in that hard, guys?!
Fortunately for all of us, Redmayne was always encouraged to follow his fascination with acting, raised in London by parents who took him to theater lessons and auditions, which led to a part in Sam Mendes’ West End production of “Oliver!” when Eddie was 12. “I was workhouse boy number 40,” Redmayne told the Telegraph UK in 2009. “It was such a minor part that I didn’t meet Sam Mendes. But his name remained firmly on my cv for a long time.”
One of 5 siblings, Eddie was the only kid in the bunch to get bitten by the acting bug—but bitten he certainly was. He continued to act during his school and uni years, attending Eton just like Colin Clark, and performing with the National Youth Music Theatre. After performing as Viola in the Globe Theater’s production of “Twelfth Night” (ohhhh, to have been a fly on the wall!), Eddie landed an agent. More stage successes followed (“The Goat” at The Almeida, opposite Jonathan Pryce; “Hecuba” at The Donmar; “Now or Later” at the Royal Court), which ran tandem to his increasing visibility in meaty roles for television and film. The actor selected his parts carefully and well, and soon built up a reputation for using his open, honest face as a shell for darker emotions and layered performances. Michael Grandage, who directed Redmayne in the acclaimed play “Red”, states in the Telegraph UK article: “He’s a remarkably versatile actor. He’s got wonderful intellectual and emotional centres that work together.”
After Eddie wraps up the publicity whirlwind for “Marilyn”, he’s going to help amp the squee factor for us theater nerds who have already reserved places in the queue for the newest movie version of Boulbil and Schönberg’s “Les Miserables”, getting to play the romantic lead of Marius, opposite a Cosette who’s yet to be cast. To be directed by Tom Hooper, Redmayne’s confirmed castmates already include Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. (Again, I say: squee.)
In short, it’s back to breeches and waistcoats for this actor who hasn’t bothered to leap any tall buildings in proving the superman status for us. He just prefers to leap through time, thank you very much.
Eddie Redmayne’s official website: www.eddie-redmayne.net.
Trivia, Part 1: Three years after “The Boleyn Girl” bowed, Redmayne and Scarlett Johansson, who played secret lovers in the film, won Tony Awards in the same year: both for their Broadway debuts; both for featured acting roles. Redmayne won for his work in the drama “Red”, playing the assistant to the artist Rothko: a role he describes as the “dream job” due to his own passion for art. (Also an interesting choice, considering Redmayne has red-green color blindness.) Johansson took home her statue from the American Theatre Wing for her role as Catherine in the revival of Arthur Miller’s classic “A View From the Bridge”.
Trivia, the Sequel: We-thinks Redmayne harbors a secret of his own! We call you out as a closet Twi-hard, Eddie! After all, he co-starred with Kristen Stewart in the touching indie “The Yellow Handkerchief”, and shares the dreamy, humble English actor factor with Forks’ other famous resident…you know, the one who made “Edward” a cool name again. “They (Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart) both retained such a great head on their shoulders despite the extraordinary chaos and wonder that is ‘Twilight’,” he recently told MTV News. “So I think they’ll remain doing interesting work, and I can’t wait to see what it is they’ll do next.”