Speaking about his involvement in the legal drama film, the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ star recalls how director Aaron Sorkin gave him freedom to explore his portrayal of Tom Hayden
- Sep 25, 2020
AceShowbiz – Eddie Redmayne read up on his dream gig while battling food poisoning and a ruptured foot in a Morocco hotel.
The Oscar winner had always longed to appear in an Aaron Sorkin film and the screenwriter-turned-director’s script for “The Trial of the Chicago 7” could not have arrived at a better time.
“When I first read Aaron’s script I was in Morocco on holiday,” the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” star, who portrays Jane Fonda‘s activist ex-husband Tom Hayden in the film, says. “I had food poisoning, and I had ruptured my foot, so I couldn’t leave the hotel. I was feeling so miserable and sorry for myself when this email pinged through with a script from Aaron Sorkin.”
“Quite often as an actor you’re asked what is your bucket list, what character do you want to play, who do you dream of working with? There was only one person on my bucket list and that was Aaron Sorkin. It was by far the most thrilling, funny, enlightening, and emotional piece of writing that I’d ever read. I finished it and called up my agent and said, ‘Count me in, in whatever capacity’.”
And Redmayne had an early run-in with perfectionist Sorkin as he tried to get Hayden’s voice just right: “Aaron was very strong to liberate me early as I was working on my voice, and Tom had a very specific voice. Aaron said, ‘I don’t want this to be a replica of Tom Hayden. I want you to play my version of him’.”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”, which also features Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and 2020 Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, opens in select cinemas this weekend (September 25) before debuting on Netflix on October 16.
Source: Movies - aceshowbiz.com
