Eddie's team organized a conference call with the help of Charlotte for fan bloggers for last Monday, one day before the London premiere of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I was fortunate to get an invitation and had an opportunity to ask Eddie one question. This was the second time, I've been participated in
a call like this before The Danish Girl premiere last year. Eddie found time to talk with us during the busy press day when he promoted his new film with the other cast members.
The participants were: me,
Ivonne,
Allison,
Charlotte,
Cris,
Kate,
Fran and the moderator Britney (from Eddie's team)
When Eddie arrived, he greated us warmly. He said:
"Hey, guys! (Group: Hey…hi. Eddie) I want to thank you guys for being so supportive, as always, and I’m looking forward to your questions. So do we start with Judit?"
So I could ask him first. My question was:
Who was your idol when you were
younger, a particular favorite actor, singer or artist who was
fascinating for you, and whose photos were on your wall?
Eddie's answer: "Ooh, great question! I’m not sure about photos on my wall because I wasn’t really a photos-on-my-wall person — for some reason, I don’t know why. But I remember when I did a production of “Oliver” when I was like 11 or 12, I remember
Jonathan Pryce was playing Fagin, and every night I was in the wings during the curtain call, and he would be doing his last song, and I remember watching from the wings and finding him pretty enthralling. And I think when I did “The Goat” with him, which was one of the first plays I did in London, he was pretty inspiring, and he remains a friend and, particularly in those early days he, and I would say,
Mark Rylance, were two people who I massively looked up to, and they’re two actors who I still hugely admire their work. Interestingly, later in life,
when I was doing “Hick,” randomly, I started watching James Dean’s films, and I thought he was pretty riveting. I had heard about his icon, but I didn’t…I hadn’t seen his work, and I couldn’t believe he’d only made three films. And I remember watching “Giant” and thinking he was, like, staggeringly transformative."
There were questions about whether he chooses physicality over complex psychology in the characters he portrays, and what character traits fuel his success. Of course, there were the requisite questions about his new life in the Potterverse, too, about his first day in the Potter world, if he's excited to see himself in 3D, about his most fascinating set experience, and one about the titillating idea of a Redmayne-Cumberbatch pairing.
You can read the highlights in Charlotte's post here
Eddie to the group: "They (your questions) are always the best, and thank you all again for really for being so supportive. It means the world. And I’m sure I’ll see you guys in different places."
Thanks to Eddie, Charlotte, Britney and everyone involved for this amazing opportunity. <3
Eddie's Idols
Pryce is also in the midst of organising a series of gala concerts for a mentoring charity called Friendship Works. These will include a clutch of younger actors such as the Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne, who once played the son of Pryce and his wife Kate Fahy in Edward Albee’s The Goat at the Almeida, and Tom Hiddleston, who played Pryce’s son in Cranford and Fahy’s son in the film Archipelago.
“It’s funny,” he says ruminatively, “the stages of an actor’s life. I have all these extra children now.”
(x)
playing a texan - sort of cowboy - meth addict James Dean wannabe."
One of Eddie’s inspirations for getting into the character of Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything'
was a photo of
James Dean pinned up in his trailer.
Eddie Redmayne and Rhys Meredith as twins Viola and Sebastian
