When Eddie was asked in an interview for Evening Standard about his first London
memory he said: "Being pushed in my pram by my mum across Albert Bridge when
I was three. It was pouring with rain but I was so cosy and I remember looking up
and seeing my mum's face drenched with rain."
Born (6th January 1982) to a banker and a business owner Eddie Redmayne
grew up in a large house on the Chelsea Embankment in London.
Eddie's mother Patricia is a stylish woman, always interested in fashion, and
friends recall seeing her shopping in the leading couture house Catherine Walker
accompanied by the young Eddie. She loved to dress him up too and he would
often be seen wearing a sailor suit...
Eddie spent his childhood holidays in his family's farmhouse in Grimaud France
close to St. Tropez and just two hours from the ski slopes. The villa boasts a
12-meter swimming pool and tennis court, surrounded by forests and the views
from the house stretch over its own vineyard into the Prignon Valley. (x)
His parents encouraged Eddie's talent: they sent him to drama lessons and
while still very young, he turned out to be an extremely gifted singer...
'He's a performer and has been ever since he was five and first started singing
at school' his mother once said. Eddie went to the best schools in Britain.
Before Eton, he attended Eton House then won a choral scholarship to Colet Court a preparatory school for boys aged seven to thirteen.
(Read more in Eddie Redmayne - The Biography by Emily Herbert)
"I kind of enjoyed singing... My parents aren't like theatrical or musical really, but
very supportive... I had some lessons when I was a kid." - DP/30 Les Mis interview
Did you know that Eddie's first TV appearance was much earlier than his role
in Animal Ark, even earlier than his West End debut in 'Oliver'? He appeared
in Wide Awake Club, a children's TV program at age 8 singing in the shower.
Timmy Mallett presenter posted about it on Twitter.
on Sunday. We had a game called Singing in the Shower, which was like a first
version of karaoke. I recently met Eddie Redmayne and he said, “Hello. The last
time I saw you, I was singing in the shower with my brother. “How did you go?”
I asked. He said, “I lost. My brother won the Wham! album and the WAC pack.
I was so jealous." He could even remember the prices!...' (x)
I was asked in a comment about Eddie's pets. Eddie is very tight-lipped
if it comes to his childhood and private life. I know only a few things he
revealed in his interviews. Here's what I read in a Mirror article:
Eddie keeps his distance from most animals – because there’s nothing magic
about the rash that appears out of nowhere if he gets too close... “I had a dog
when I was younger but I am deeply allergic to cats and to horses and things,”
"When I was a kid ... my mom and dad, because I had an interest were taking me to
the theatre and one of the first things I saw was the Midsummer Night's Dream at
the National Theatre and Tim (Timothy Spall) was playing Bottom. And it was all
set in mud and there was a contortionist playing Puck, this woman, and when the
ears came onto Bottom, this contortionist got up on Tim's shoulders and her feet
were the ears and I remember afterward we went on a tour behind and that is when
I got sold on like on genuinely of the magic of it..." - THR Roundtable video
Eddie's other defining theatre experience then was when his parents took him
to see Les Mis. He loved it, and he wanted to be Gavroche. When he heard about
the movie project he wanted to be a part of it and the audition process begun.
Eddie on his favorite birthday: "I was really into magic when I was a kid, and there's
this amazing place in Charing Cross in London called Davenports which is like a proper
magicians shop, a shop where you can go and buy like a box to chop people in half ...
And I was used to sort-of go and stand in the windows regularly. And one year I think
I must've been about sort of 9 or 10 my mun got a guy called Nick Davenport I think his
name was. I remember his business card, he did that (demonstrating) on it, and he came
and did a magic show and I thought that was kind of amazing and that was a goodie."
In an interview for Out magazine, Eddie stumbles to recall whether there were
traditional male and female roles prescribed in the house in which he grew up.
“I suppose it depends on what you think of as masculine and feminine.
I was musical, and I was into theater and arts, but I was also into sports,
so I had quite a broad spectrum. I can also totally see that other people
see femininity in me.” He has been aware of this perception before, in
life as in work. He is not a butch man. “No. No, no, no, absolutely not.”
That's what I found about his early years. I cannot recall more now.
