Yesterday evening Daily Mail published an interesting new article by Baz Bamigboye about Eddie Redmayne's upcoming film "Theory of Everything". I'm so excited, there are so many new informations about the project in it.
The first part of the article is about Eddie, what he thinks about Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane and his feelings about portraying the great professor, followed by a detailed description about his intensive preparations for the role.
In the last part Anthony McCarten talks about the movie and the author writes about his set visite's experiences.
There's a new production still in the article too.
I couldn't miss anything from the text, I posted the whole article below.
The love story that helped Hawking reach for the stars: Eddie Redmayne to star
in provocative film about physicist's 25-year marriage to first wife
By
BAZ BAMIGBOYE - PUBLISHED: 5 June 2014
Eddie Redmayne had books on Albert Einstein and James Dean in his dressing room when he took on the part of Professor Stephen Hawking in a film about the physicist’s unconventional 25-year love affair with his first wife.
The actor, who shot to stardom in the movie musical Les Miserables, explained that Einstein and Dean were brilliant
in their fields and idols to women.
Redmayne grinned and said of Hawking: ‘Women flock to him, too. He loves women; women love him.’
 |
| Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane (x) |
The thespian and the cosmologist met during the filming of Theory Of Everything and Redmayne felt almost unworthy being in the presence of the great professor, let alone portraying him.
‘This man had discovered how the universe operates and I explained how, for the film, the complexities of physics had to be pared down to present it all as simply as possible.
‘I apologised to him for having studied art history. He understood and smiled,’ Redmayne told me.
Theory Of Everything is based on an autobiography by Hawking’s first wife Jane, who split from him after three children and two decades of marriage.
Felicity Jones plays Jane who, even though she was told Stephen was very ill and might not live long, still married him and helped propel him to greatness.
Redmayne heard about the script by Anthony McCarten and coveted the part once he knew James Marsh was directing and that Working Title chiefs Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan were to produce it with Lisa Bruce.
As soon as Redmayne secured the role he started research for his very physical transformation —
Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963 just before his 21st birthday.
‘He was given two years to live and that made him determined,’ says Redmayne. ‘How does someone get that kind of diagnosis and choose to live that kind of life? He chose to live life with a twinkle in his eye.’
The actor gathered a team around him that included a choreographer, vocal coach, make-up designer, costume designer and medical consultants.
He got permission to meet with MND patients at a clinic in London, and later visited some of them at their homes so he could observe their mobility, speech and temperament.
Using photographs and documentary footage, Redmayne — working with Alex Reynolds, a movement specialist and choreographer — charted Hawking’s physical disintegration over 20 years as he became paralysed and lost the ability to speak.
‘It’s been unlike anything I’ve ever done, and when you’re portraying someone as formidable as Hawking,
you feel a responsibility to portray it as a real condition and not make it up. My body was manipulated into different shapes in front of a mirror to match what happened to him.’
Redmayne certainly suffered for his art — during filming he made regular visits to an osteopath.
Also, because his mouth was realigned for his portrait of Hawking, make-up stylist Jan Sewell noticed
he was developing extra cheek muscles on one side.
The film’s more a love story than a picture about Hawking’s extraordinary achievements. ‘You could say it’s about the limits of love,’ observed McCarten, the screenwriter who took nine years to persuade Jane to entrust him with
her story.
He added: ‘Stephen lately acknowledged that he couldn’t have achieved what he did without her. She gave him a balanced life, and from that platform he was able to concentrate on unlocking the secrets of the universe.
‘Jane was this woman in the background literally doing the heavy lifting while he was in the spotlight.
‘In her book, she showed the complete Stephen Hawking because until then you couldn’t comprehend how he could function. She shone a light into the little shady corners.’
McCarten and Marsh had to come up with visual metaphors to explain the complexities of black hole theory and quantum this and that.
On the day I visited the set, Felicity’s Jane was explaining to Charlie Cox (playing Jonathan Hellyer Jones, who would become her second husband) as much as she could about quantum physics — using a potato and some peas.
I have seen some footage and
it’s an uplifting, inspirational love story about a bright, shining couple played by two luminous actors.
The movie opens on January 1, though it may be screened at one of the big autumn film festivals, and it certainly looks as if it’s going to feature in the next awards season.
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
Excerpt from Olivia's report about the filming I already quoted in my 2013 Okt. 20 post:
"My goodness guys, I think he’s gonna win an Oscar for this one. Incredible performance. He NAILS IT. The facial expressions, the positioning of his body, the look, everything. When I was watching him in character I felt like it was
the real Stephen Hawking in the room. Our boy is working so hard. It looked like it was taking a lot out of him,
as soon as we cut you could see his laboured breathing. I just wanted to give him a hug!"
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
 |
| Stephen Hawking & first wife Jane Wilde, 1962 (x) |
Stephen and Jane met through Hawking’s sister shortly before
he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at 21.
The couple were engaged in 1964 and Hawking would later say that his engagement “gave him something to live for”
(x)
As Hawking’s celebrity status grew his marriage became more and more strained, in one interview Jane described her role as “simply to tell him he’s not God.”
 |
| Stephen & Jane Hawking 1990 (x) |
In the late 1980’s Stephen became close with one of his nurses, Elaine Mason. This was to the dismay of some of his colleagues due to her sometimes abrasive personality and extreme protectiveness towards Stephen.
In 1990, Stephen told Jane he was leaving her for Mason and departed their family home where he had lived with Jane and their three children. They divorced a few years later and he married Mason in 1995.
(Source:
science.howstuffworks.com)
