Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood mogul and alleged serial rapist, already had a poor reputation before the #MeToo movement forced him to leave his position of power. Eddie Redmayne today adds another more account to the book of the long-running rumours that surrounding Weinstein regarding career sabotage, violence, and generally awful behaviour.
The Oscar-winning actor stated in his latest Vanity Fair "Career Timeline" that Weinstein had contacted him on the set of My Week with Marilyn and him Redmayne that he didn't want him in the movie due to his face. Redmayne stated, "I was cast in [My Week With Marilyn] by the beautiful Simon Curtis. "I recall him telling me to walk with him on the first day of filming. When [Weinstein] instructed me to "walk with me," I was afraid.
I was moving my face too much, and he sort of hinted that he didn't really want me in the movie. My sort of overpowering memory of that movie is simply trying to keep my face still, which pretty much explains the entire performance.
In the grand scope of Weinstein's misdeeds, Redmayne's memory isn't that serious, but it is an odd thing to say to an actor on their first day in front of the camera. Weinstein is facing a number of accusations of sexual assault and harassment. Ironically, the actor who dislikes when a person moves their face too much recently received a request to cease looking blankly at the jurors.
Regarding Redmayne, even if the interview skips over his illustrious performance in Jupiter Ascending, he was quite complimentary of his work in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. "There were things that were really distressing when we started on the first Fantastic Beasts," he admitted. "Like having a wand is your boyhood goal, but all of a sudden you're presented with this, and you have stage fright. I'm not sure what to do with it. Wand School was afterwards founded.
The best part of those movies, no matter how talented the performers, was watching fresh actors enter the scene, receive their magic wand, and watch their inner child spontaneously come out.
