Eddie Redmayne Reveals the Easiest Part of Playing Stephen Hawking

POPSUGAR: There is already a good amount of award season buzz for this film — does that intimidate you or does it pump you up?

Eddie Redmayne: When I got cast in the film, I thought it was an extraordinary story, so I was so thrilled to be a part of it. But I was equally cautious of the fact — or aware of the fact — that, at some point, if you are playing Stephen Hawking, Stephen Hawking is going to see the film, and what is he going to make of it? So I had a lot of fear about what his, and Jane's, and his family's judgment is going to be. And when they saw the film and enjoyed it, for me it was just the most wonderful relief. I can’t wait to try and encourage people to go out and see it, and if any buzz or nice things are being said, then that for me is lovely. That's wonderful.

PS: Speaking of fears about taking on the role, what would you say was your biggest?

ER: I would say it was a collection. First, you are playing an icon, so the public will have an opinion. Then, you are playing Stephen, who is living with Jane and the family and you know that they are going to see the film. And also, you are depicting science and getting that truthful and bang-on and yet comprehensible to an audience without being so highfalutin and over people's heads. But through the process of prepping, I met over 30 or 40 people suffering from motor neuron disease (ALS) and I felt great responsibility to be authentic to the illness and depict this thing which is horrifically, sort of taking over people's lives. And also, to make it entertaining and to make the story depict [Stephen's] wit and humor and this incredible love story. It was really the collection of those things; the whole thing felt like a gigantic challenge.

PS: What was the feedback you got from Stephen and his family?

ER: When we made the film, we used our approximated synthesized version of his voice, and after seeing the film, he gave us his voice. I know that sounds odd, but he has the copyright for the specifics of his voice. For me that was the most heartwarming thing. He said some very generous things, and he said at one point he was watching it and didn't know if it was him or not. And I was like, "Stephen, I will take that as the greatest review of my life!"

PS: There are some funny parts in the film where you think, "Is it OK to laugh?" Obviously he has a great sense of humor and is a charmer, and it was awesome to see how you made light of some situations while still staying true to this horrible disease.

ER: That's something that I found so empowering when I first met Stephen. His humor is properly funny and he is sharp as a knife; nothing passes him. At the same time, one of the motor neuron patients I met in the process had told me that he had almost died in a choking fit with something he had eaten the day before. He was there with his wife, and she described how he had come down the next morning and was like "I wonder what death-defying act I can do today!" Similarly, Tim Hawking, Steve and Jane's youngest son, told me that as a kid he would use his dad's wheelchair as a go-kart, he would put swear words into the voice machine, and all of those things. Up until that point, I had been very sort of . . . you know, you don't want to be anything but respectful to the illness, but you realize that people are people and find humor in complicated situations. That was really important for me to try and find. So yes, you are meant to laugh, because Stephen is hilarious.

PS: You really perfected Hawking's mannerisms. What was your transformation process, as far as learning to speak like him and walk like him?

ER: Thank you. What's weird about filmmaking is that no one tells you how to do it. I wish they did! Like in theater, you have a director, but in film, until you arrive on set, you are kind of up to your own devices. James [Marsh, the director] was wonderful at helping me go back to this old-school model of having a team. I worked with an amazing makeup designer, costume designer, a voice coach, and a choreographer, a movement coach. [Movement director] Alex Reynolds, who is a dancer, and I went to the motor neuron clinic for four months and met with Dr. Katie Sidel, who was a specialist in MND and ALS. We would meet some of her patients who would allow us to talk to them, and then it was a lot of filming and hearing about their lives. Some of them would allow us to go to their homes. At the same time, we looked at photos of Stephen when he was younger — because there is no documentary footage — and showed them to Dr. Sidel, who would say, "Oh, by the look of that hand, that probably went around this way," and trying to track what the physical decline would be and feeding that back into the script. I found all of the footage I could; I had this iPad full of stuff, and I know it sounds silly, but I would literally sit in front of the mirror with the iPad and try and find these muscles. What's amazing is that Jan [Sewell], the makeup artist, said that by the end of the film, these muscles in the side of my face had grown!

PS: I'm sure people have asked you what the hardest part of playing this role was, but what was the easiest part? What kind of came naturally?

ER: What was lovely was, particularly when he was young, his wonderful, lazy, happy complacency. It was such fun to play with Harry Lloyd [who plays Hawking's friend, Brian] and Felicity [Jones], when he has just got a complete confidence in his own genius and skill. My favorite scene was just lying in that bed — you know that scene — and they are like "Morning!"

PS: He barely had to try! He was such a genius that he could just do his homework on a napkin and turn it in and get everything right.

ER: I know, I know! I wish my life was like that! I am one of those people who has to work rancidly hard to get anywhere. So while I admire it, I am über jealous of it as well.

PS: What was the biggest lesson that you learned from filming the movie, something that you will take with you for the rest of your life?

ER: That's a great question. What I took away from the filming, or from the entire experience, was the idea of the value of time; when you are given the sentence that Stephen was and suddenly everything is put into perspective about how short of time we have and how to make the most of every single minute of every single day — how to live forward and live positively. Of course in all of our lives, you get caught up in the daily foils of it, and of course I'm a massive culprit of that. But I try to keep reminding myself that we are lucky enough not to have that sentence over our head and to make sure that you are living fully. [Hawking] has been given that set of limitations, yet has refused to let that compromise his life.