Eddie Redmayne’s Failed Audition and Why He Laughs About It
Eddie Redmayne‘s name is almost synonymous with Daniel Radcliffe‘s in the Harry Potter fandom, but getting roles in movies wasn’t always easy for him. He can testify to some auditions that went less than perfect, but in typical Redmayne fashion, he finds these past attempts at getting a role quite hilarious.
Star Wars fans will be familiar with the villain and First Order leader Kylo Ren. What they might not know is that Redmayne was asked to audition for the role, which ended up going to Adam Driver. Films as big as Star Wars are obviously very secretive – even when it comes to the auditioning process. Redmayne didn’t even know which character he was auditioning for.
He was still an unknown name in the industry when asked to audition for the part, which was something the producers preferred. He also knew the casting director, Nina Gold, who was the one who cast him in his Oscar-winning role in The Theory of Everything and later in his Oscar-nominated role in The Danish Girl. The odds seemed to be in his favor, but then they gave him a script, which didn’t even contain the actual lines of the character he was auditioning for. According to Redmayne, the lines almost seemed like something from Pride and Prejudice. Then they told him that he was auditioning for the villain. This is where things started to go astray. Redmayne recalled the moment they gave him this information, saying, “If you’re me, you then put some ridiculous voice on.” This was, of course, not exactly what the casting director had in mind. After ten takes, Gold asked him if he had anything else to show them. He didn’t. That was the end of it. Thinking back on that moment, Redmayne describes it as “hilarious,” and Gold agrees with him.
If anything, this proves that even the biggest actors out there sometimes have those less-than-perfect auditions. Looking back on it with some laughter is probably the best way to go about it. We’re pretty sure Redmayne’s story will serve as an inspiration to all the actors out there who are still trying to make it and have had pretty horrible auditions. Redmayne got cast in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them not long after, which proves that less-than-perfect auditions never mean you’re not good enough.
Did you know that Redmayne was in line for the role of Kylo Ren? Do you think he might have been a good fit for the character? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
