Eddie Redmayne's care with movement matters because he can make room for humour too. His Stephen Hawking is good company, and that makes a demanding performance worth watching even when the surrounding drama grows too polite.
Fi1m perspective
In The Theory of Everything (2014), Eddie Redmayne keeps Stephen Hawking's pleasure in other people visible as movement becomes harder. The humour matters as much as the physical control: it gives us someone whose company we can enjoy. This is where we rate him, when the careful work on a body or a voice makes a character more approachable. There is plenty of technique to admire, but he does not keep directing our attention towards it.
The screen breakthrough came through My Week with Marilyn (2011) and Les Misérables (2012), in which he played Marius Pontmercy. After Hawking, the leads included Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl (2015) and Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016). The recurring interest is in parts that ask for precise physical and vocal work, with preparation that can begin long before filming.
His preparation includes interviews, physical training and charting how a character changes. James Marsh gives that work a useful purpose by making The Theory of Everything chiefly about a marriage, with Felicity Jones as the other half of it. Redmayne's charm makes the attraction persuasive, while both actors allow the strain to remain visible. We were moved by their affection because they make it clear why these people want to be together, rather than simply asking us to admire their devotion.
The limitation is the film's reluctance to press harder on what the marriage costs Jane. Marsh keeps to a familiar biographical shape, and the tact becomes evasive just when these performances invite closer attention. Redmayne's warmth makes that caution easier to sit through, but it cannot make the writing more searching. Start here for Redmayne and Jones together, but be prepared for the script to draw back from the harder questions about the marriage.
Biography
Eddie Redmayne is an English actor. He was born Edward John David Redmayne on 6 January 1982 in London. He began his professional career in theatre, appearing in productions including Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe in 2002 and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? in 2004.
Redmayne starred in the West End and Broadway productions of Red (2009–2010), winning the Laurence Olivier Award and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. His film roles include Marius Pontmercy in Les Misérables (2012) and Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), for which he received the Academy Award for Best Actor, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award.
He is known for playing Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts film series (2016–2022) and for roles in The Danish Girl (2015), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) and The Good Nurse (2022). He has also appeared in West End and Broadway revivals of Cabaret.
