Eddie Redmayne: “Awards are incredibly humbling – but it’s not why I do what I do”

My favourite Harry Potter film would have to be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The final duel between Ralph Fiennes and Daniel Radcliffe was extraordinary. I had to keep re-watching it – it was that good. My favourite book, though, would have to be Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It was the start of releasing so many millions of imaginations.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald sees the series take a huge, much darker tonal change and this has been really exciting for me. When I first read the script, it had real elements of a thriller. It’s cryptic and will hopefully have audiences on the edge of their seats.

My character, Newt Scamander, is a man with a passion, and that passion is animals. He finds it hard to connect with people but doesn’t really care why. I like to think I am passionate about all that I do. And the [magical creatures called the] Baby Nifflers are amazing!

It’s clichéd, I know, but fatherhood is the best thing to have ever happened to me. [My wife Hannah and I] welcomed our second child, Luke, in March. The only negative thing I can say about it is sleep deprivation – but when you go into that room and see a big, beaming face smiling at you, that’s soon forgotten.

What draws me to a script are its characters; they have to be exciting. I have to be transported to [their] world in my mind. Of course, any awards are incredibly humbling – but it’s not why I do what I do.

Playing Stephen [Hawking in The Theory of Everything] was incredibly difficult – not least because I didn’t want to let the great man down himself. It was challenging, but I loved every minute. I was in essence inhabiting an illness and it was difficult to do.

I loved doing theatre and I am sure I will do more of that in the future. I made my professional debut as Viola in Twelfth Night in 2002, long before I acted in my first feature film. It’s so incredibly scary at times – if you’re making a movie and if you screw up, you can re-shoot, but in the theatre you don’t have that luxury. There is something exciting about that.

I haven’t always been well-dressed and I highly doubt I always will be. But I have had a lot of help from some fantastic designers: Prada, Burberry, Gucci, McQueen and Hardy Amies.

Three destinations on my travel bucket list are more of Italy, Brazil and New Zealand. My top tips for exploring any new city are to check out the local art, educate yourself with the history of the place and eat local produce.

The Amalfi Coast has truly taken my heart. We were there for the Giffoni Film Festival and stayed at Le Sirenuse. It’s a wonderful hotel overlooking the ocean that serves delicious Italian food. Sitting there, eating with my wife and enjoying a glass of wine is the most blissful travel memory I have.

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This article was originally published in the November 2018 issue of SilverKris magazine