- NEWS
- COMPETITION
- DIRECTORY
Eddie Redmayne regrets exaggerating his horse riding skills, after director Tom Hooper branded him a “f**king liar”.
The 30-year-old British actor has emerged as one of Hollywood’s brightest talents following performances in My Week with Marilyn and new movie Les Misérables. Before appearing in Tom’s upcoming musical film, they worked together on the 2005 miniseries Elizabeth I.
Eddie pretended he could ride a horse during his audition and ended up rueing the fib when he caused havoc on set.
“Tom Hooper said, ‘Eddie, have you ever been on a horse'’ I said, ‘Yes.’ Cut to Lithuania, two weeks later, a huge Elizabethan street, Helen Mirren at the end of it on a balcony, in a huge Elizabethan dress, Tom, cameras, Jeremy Irons, rain machines, 50 Lithuanian extras, spurs attached to my feet, and I’m thinking, ‘At what point do I tell them that I have never, ever ridden a horse'’ It was then that I realised a big part of the cliché of actors lying in auditions is that you should probably try to do the thing you said you can do before filming starts,” he recalled to the January edition of Esquire magazine. “Anyway, I nearly killed people as the horse galloped off at a hundred miles an hour after I gave it the slightest nudge. Tom came out with his megaphone and shouted, ‘You’re a f**king lair, Redmayne!’”
Eddie faced further equestrian challenges for his role as Marius in Les Misérables.
After dreaming up a dangerous stunt, he approached Tom about it and was shocked when the director gave him the go ahead. Although his riding skills have improved in recent years, he isn’t sure the scene will be good enough to make the final cut of the movie.
“There was a moment on set where I looked around and thought, ‘Why don’t I grab that flag, knock that guy off that horse, leap onto the horse and gallop off into the sunset'’ I told Tom, and he said, ‘Right, I am going to make you do that,’” Eddie laughed. “The film became a test of my equestrian ‘skills’. I’d worked with a horse trainer for weeks. I have yet to see whether all my horse moments have been cut.”
Les Misérables is released worldwide from later this month.