Eddie Redmayne is one of the most popular actors around at the moment thanks to critically acclaimed roles in films such as Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them, Les Misérables, The Theory of Everything and The Danish Girl, and plays including Red and Richard II. Here are the things you never knew about Eddie Redmayne.
1. Favourite karaoke song
His favourite karaoke song is ‘Living on a Prayer’ by Bon Jovi.
2. Horse riding
For his role in BBC’s Elizabeth I, Eddie had told Tom Hooper, the director, that he could ride horses, though he actually didn’t know how to. When it came to actually riding a horse, he lost control of it and a number of the crew came close to getting seriously injured – Tom shouted through a megaphone that Eddie was a liar and sent him to riding school.
3. First TV role
His first TV role was in 1998 in the series Animal Ark, a children’s programme about a vet’s daughter and her best friend who help injured animals.
4. Colourblind
Even though he’s colourblind, he wrote his dissertation at Cambridge on International Klein Blue, the signature colour of Yves Klein, for his degree in History of Art.
5. Great-grandfather
His great-grandfather was Sir Richard Redmayne, who was a mining and civil engineer and became the first Chief Inspector of Mines. He also had a key role in improving mine safety.
6. Academy Award
He’s one of only 17 actors to have won an Academy Award for playing someone still alive.
7. Role research
For his role as Stephen Hawking in the film The Theory of Everything, Redmayne met with over 40 ALS patients, lost 15 pounds, trained with a dance for four months to learn to control his muscles and drew up a chart that tracked the order in which Hawking’s muscles started declining.
8. Eton
During his time at Eton, regarded as the UK’s most prestigious boarding school, one of his classmates was none other than Prince William.
9. Family
He has a total of four siblings and is the only one in his family to have pursued a career in acting.