"Fantastic Beasts" star Eddie Redmayne
Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything,” “The Danish Girl”) unleashes magic of a different sort in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the latest film fantasy set in the Harry Potter universe.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
In the first film based on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter off-shoots, Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, a writer whose research in Magizoology (the study of magical creatures) leads him to New York City, where the escape of beasties locked inside his suitcase leads to chaos for Muggles - and, for himself, trouble with the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA).
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
Newt Scamander tracks down a wayward Niffler in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
At The Globe
Eddie Redmayne with CBS News’ Tracy Smith at The Globe in London.
“You’ve accomplished so much already: Tony, Oscar, now you’re in a big blockbuster,” said Smith. “What’s left?”
“When you put it in the term of a checklist, [they] are amazing things,” he said. “But it’s interesting - the reason you get into this is to play interesting people, or just to tell stories that intrigue you. And none of that changes. So although maybe those things feel like a lovely checklist, it doesn’t stop your appetite for wanting to tell stories, I think.”
“You still have that appetite?”
“Still have that appetite, yeah,” Redmayne said.
"Twelfth Night"
Born in London to a banker and a business owner, Eddie Redmayne took a keen interest in drama during college, and got his first professional role at The Globe in London, in a 2002 production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” as a very convincing Viola - corset and all.
“For years when I then started doing films and period dramas and quite a lot of Elizabethan period dramas, the actresses would often be complaining, going, ‘God, this corset hurts.’ I was like, ‘I know! I know your pain!’”
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
After appearing in the 2005 miniseries “Elizabeth I,” Eddie Redmayne returned to the court of Elizabeth I, playing Anthony Babington, a key figure in a plot to assassinate the monarch, in the 2007 drama, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” starring Cate Blanchett.
"Savage Grace"
Tom Kalin’s “Savage Grace” (2007) starred Julliane Moore and Eddie Redmayne as an heiress and her son whose relationship turns from decadent to fatal.
Redmayne said one of the most amazing aspects about winning the Oscar for “The Theory of Everything” was that Julianne Moore won for “Still Alice” on the same night: “Backstage, completely shell-shocked, she was like, ‘Now maybe someone will see “Savage Grace”!’”
"The Yellow Handkerchief"
Kristen Stewart and Eddie Redmayne are teenagers whose chance encounter with an ex-con (William Hurt) sparks a reappraisal of the direction of their lives in “The Yellow Handkerchief” (2008).
"The Yellow Handkerchief"
Kristen Stewart and actor Eddie Redmayne (“The Yellow Handkerchief”) attend the Sundance Film Festival, January 18, 2008 in Park City, Utah.
"Tess of the D'Urbervilles"
Eddie Redmayne as Angel Clare, opposite Gemma Atherton as Tess, in the 2008 TV minerseries of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles.”
"Glorious 39"
In the drama “Glorious 39” (2009), set on the eve of World War II, Eddie Redmayne starred with Romola Garai and Juno Temple as siblings whose family harbors a secret that could affect Britain’s entrance into war with Germany.
"Black Death"
Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne star as a knight and a monk in medieval England seeking a haven from a deadly plague in “Black Death” (2010).
Tony Awards
Eddie Redmayne poses with his Best Featured Actor in a Play Tony for “Red,” at the 64th annual Tony Awards, June 13, 2010 in New York City.
"Hick"
In the comic-drama “Hick” (2011), Eddie Redmayne is featured as a drifter who crosses paths with a teenage runaway (Chloë Grace Moretz). “I played a Texan meth-addict pedophile, which was a lovely moment!” Redmayne laughed.
When he started out as an actor, he spent time in Los Angeles auditioning continuously, “endlessly stuck in traffic jams doing weird American accents down the freeway, turning up and there being sort of 30 better-looking versions of you who could do the accent substantially better.
“Within the same day you’d have four different accents of different things that you were doing. You had no idea really what you were doing. But I always say to young actors, it’s using that experience to try things that were beyond your frame of reference or beyond what you would normally be cast as. Those ones which were completely absurd and you’d never get cast in were kind of the most fun because there was no chance you were gonna get it, so you could go all-out to try and do something, or learn from it.”
"My Week With Marilyn"
In “My Week With Marilyn” (2011), Eddie Redmayne played a production assistant escorting Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) during her trip to England to shoot a film.
"My Week With Marilyn"
Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne on the set of “My Week With Marilyn.”
"Birdsong"
Eddie Redmayne in battle in the World War I TV drama “Birdsong” (2012).
"Les Miserables"
Samantha Bark as Eponine and Eddie Redmayne as Marius Pontmercy, in the 2012 film version of the Broadway musical “Les Miserables.”
“I love singing. Music was kind of how I got into acting. And so I sang a lot. I played the piano a wee bit. And I sang at university and I had sort of choral scholarship there. But then theater took over, and I hadn’t sung for ten, 12 years when we did “Les Mis.” And that was amazing.
“It was incredibly exposing. It was recorded live, so there would be a tiny little earpiece with a tinny electric piano, that if there was other noise, like a rain machine or something, you could not hear a thing. And sometimes if you were singing loudly, you couldn’t hear anything that was going on in your ear. So it was, like, very, very odd circumstances, and quite taxing ones, but [director] Tom Hooper had decided that that was the way to get the most urgent, real quality to the singing. And so it felt raw, and I really enjoyed it.
“But do I think of myself as a singer? No, I really enjoy singing, but I sound a bit like Kermit the Frog!”
Academy Awards
Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks and Eddie Redmayne perform songs from “Les Miserables” on stage during the Academy Awards ceremony, at the Dolby Theatre on February 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California.
Giffoni Film Festival
Eddie Redmayne attends the 2013 Giffoni Film Festival photocall on July 26, 2013 in Giffoni Valle Piana, Italy.
"The Theory of Everything"
In “The Theory of Everything” (2014), Eddie Redmayne portrayed Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking as he struggled with the physical infirmity of his gradually increasing motor neurone disease.
Redmayne’s process involves a prodigious amount of research and preparation for his roles - requiring time not often available in films. “On ‘The Theory of Everything,’ there was no question that I had to do the research beforehand. I asked that of James Marsh, our director, and he allowed me that. From then I’ve tried to retain that with each film I do, to have a certain amount of time to sort of get under the skin of it.
“But that’s also because I can’t wing it. I know friends and actors who can -- not “wing it,” but come with a much more spontaneous facility, whereas for me I have to have done all the prep in order to forget about it and just relax in front of the camera.”
"The Theory of Everything"
Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne as Jane Wilde and Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.”
“I worked a wonderful dancer, a movement coach called Alexandra Reynolds, and a vocal coach, the late Julia Wilson-Dickson, and we spent weeks going to an ALS clinic in London and meeting doctors, but also people living with the disease, and their family, and then speaking to Jane Hawking and Stephen and their children.
“What was interesting was trying to work out Stephen’s specific deterioration, looking at photographs and at odd things, like there’s a YouTube video of Stephen when he went and did zero gravity, which is amazing. You see him floating in the air, so you see him out of his wheelchair, and you get a sense of what’s called upper neuron and lower neuron loss, because one gives a rigidity and the other gives a relaxed fluidity almost.”
"The Theory of Everything"
“In some ways the great gift of telling Stephen’s story was doing it on film, because a camera sees everything. If you look at Stephen’s face and when you speak to him now, he has very little movement, but he still has the most expressive face imaginable. And weirdly, cameras - when you see Stephen on television now - you still get a sense of that brilliance and that humor and that kind of wit. It’s all there. It’s in spades. The camera sees everything. So it was actually much easier for me, given that it was on film.”
"The Theory of Everything"
British actor Eddie Redmayne poses with British scientist Stephen Hawking at the U.S. premiere of “The Theory of Everything,” in London, December 9, 2014. The film is based on the memoir “Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen” by Jane Hawking.
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actor Oscar-winner J.K. (“Whiplash”), Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”), Best Actress Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”) and Best Actor Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”) pose in the press room during the 87th annual Academy Awards, at Loews Hollywood Hotel on February 22, 2015 in Hollywood, California.
Academy Awards
Best Actor winner Eddie Redmayne, with his wife, Hannah Bagshawe, gets his Oscar statuette engraved at the Governor’s Ball following the 87th annual Academy Awards, February 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.
"Jupiter Ascending"
In the Wachowski siblings’ sci-fi flick “Jupiter Ascending” (2015), Eddie Redmayne played Balem, an alien of royal blood with eyes on destroying an Earthling (Mila Kunis) who poses a threat.
"The Danish Girl"
In “The Danish Girl” (2015), Eddie Redmayne starred as Danish artist Einar Wegener, whose self-identification as a women evolves from cross-dressing to seeking sex reassignment surgery. Directed by “Les Miserables”’ Tom Hooper, the biopic was adapted from a novel inspired by Wegener’s life, and received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor.
"The Danish Girl"
Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne in “The Danish Girl.”
"The Danish Girl"
Eddie Redmayne as “Lili” in “The Danish Girl.”
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
Of starring in “Fantastic Beasts,” Redmayne said. “I feel like J.K. Rowling’s world is one that is owned by everyone in some ways. People have grown up with it and have such a sense of that universe that there’s something kind of wonderful seeing everyone get involved.”
“Is it a little intimidating, too?” asked Tracy Smith.
“Endlessly intimidating (laughs), yes! It is intimidating because I love the Potter films. And if you’ve loved something and then in some ways you become a part of it, you just don’t want to be the one that screws it up! But that being said, I think that pretty much every part I’ve played you always think is the most intimidating … But I think it’s good -- it helps make you work harder.”
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
Eddie Redmayne, as Newt, and Katherine Waterston, as Tina, encounter a “Swooping Evil” in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
For his scenes with Pickett the Bowtruckle, Redmayne was made a small wire puppet with which to rehearse. “I kind of adore him. He’s a sweet little stick insect figure,” he said. “So I did a couple of weeks’ rehearsal. Then in the end I would just sort of imagine he would stand on my hand. And I’d just find myself on the tube kind of gently talking to imaginary figures!
“There was something so wonderful about this film, about jumping into that kind of imagination you have as a child, [like] talking to your teddy bears or your imaginary friends or your dog or whatever it is. That made it a huge amount of fun.”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” opens in theatres November 18, 2016.