Eddie Redmayne Impressed by Fantastic Beasts’ Big Budget
By Ani Bundel
In a new interview, Eddie Redmayne discusses his experience on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and being part of a “big budget” franchise.
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The Oscars are just over a week away at this point, and as one of those nominated for Best Actor, Eddie Redmayne is everywhere right now. Redmayne also has the honor of back to back Best Actor nominations, putting him in an elite group of actors such as Laurence Olivier, Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson who have done the same. (For the record, 33 actors in all have done that, with only 18 being able to say they won at least one of the two.)
But though Redmayne may be a major figure on the awards circuit, he’s spend most of his career in the indy circuit or on stage. Though he certainly auditioned for franchise films in the past (Including, as he has told people, the part of a Weasley brother in the original Harry Potter movies) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is his first major franchise. And that took a little getting used to. As he told The Telegraph in an interview before filming on the production wrapped, it was a lot of fun.
‘What has been so great about this one is seeing a bigger budget being used,’ he says. ‘Every single head of department on this film is at the top of their game so they use that to the most extraordinary effect. The other day I was looking down at a set they have built, New York streets in the 1920s, and as far as your eye can see are cars, smoke machines, extras… It feels like going back to, and maybe we romanticise it, but a golden age of Hollywood with this huge scale of things.’
I’ll bet after working in the world of “serious” acting, being allowed to go for broke on a green screen would be a whole lot of fun. Fantastic Beasts may not get the same Oscar cred as some of Redmayne’s other work, but it will make him a household face to go with the Oscar winning name.
As for his chances of winning back to back Oscars, Redmayne already knew going in this wasn’t his year, and he’s very happy to be set up to lose to Leonardo Dicaprio, who he says “is going to win and definitely should.”
‘One of my first ever auditions for an American film [The Good Shepherd] was with Leonardo DiCaprio,’ he says. ‘We had about 15 minutes and it was pretty inspiring. In the end Matt Damon played his part. So for me to be considered in the group of nominees, with Damon, DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender and Bryan Cranston… it feels amazing.’
Next: Questions For Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
As one of last year’s winners, Eddie Redmayne will be presenting at the 2016 Oscars on February 28th. We look forward to seeing him on both the Red Carpet and as part of the ceremony.