Eddie Redmayne had to take a break after filming ‘The Theory of Everything’.
The 33-year-old actor – who stars as Stephen Hawking in the biographical drama – has revealed that his role as the legendary physicist was an "extraordinary challenge" that made him consider more deeply what role to take on next.
He said: "After finishing ‘Theory’ I wanted to, I suppose, just not act for a wee bit. I’m usually quite good at shaking things and jumping into the next one, but in this particular case I needed to take a wee bit of time.
"Also, because it was such an extraordinary challenge, you don’t just want to go on to anything next, do you see what I mean? You want to take a moment to aspire for something as interesting."
The Hollywood star also had to perfect Stephen’s physicality and revealed that he did that by regularly studing the effects of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) by talking to sufferers and working with a dancer
He told Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper: "A lot of that was about retraining muscles that are not used to working. By training over the months (prior to filming), it meant that when I was sustaining the physicality for long periods, it was something my body had become more used to.
"There were moments when an acupuncturist came to set when I tweaked something. But I was constantly reminded that at the end of the day, I could get out of the wheelchair; so many people I’d met who suffer from ALS couldn’t. You were constantly aware of how lucky you were."
Eddie Redmayne’s filming break
