Remember when Eddie Redmayne played Rob Huntley in the lunchtime TV series Doctors? Neither does anyone else. His career since let’s say… My Week with Marilyn in 2011, has sky-rocketed. The 33-year-old’s Oscar-winning performance as Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything was one of the most compelling performances of… is it too much to say all time? Thus, the follow-up film for Britain’s golden boy was always going to be difficult, because how do you beat your own top score? And here comes the answer.
Eddie will play transgender artist Einar Wegener in The Danish Girl, set during Einar’s lifetime in the 1920s and due for release in 2016. Inspired by a true story, the film explores the relationship between the young Einar (who later became Lili Elbe), and his even younger wife Gerda, played by Alicia Vikander, as they navigate their way through a painful and emotional transition. You could draw similarities with The Theory of Everything, as Eddie once again takes on a character undergoing intense physical and emotional change, alongside a loving partner. As an actor, he is making all the right decisions. Criticized for being another old Etonion with a foot already in the door, Eddie is proving, in very major ways, that talent outshines class.