Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne sat down with Solzy at the Movies to discuss The Good Nurse, which is now streaming on Netflix.
Eddie, it’s so good to see you again for the first time since the Chicago red carpet in 2019.
Eddie Redmayne: Lovely to see you too. How are you?
I’m doing well. Yourself?
Eddie Redmayne: Good. Yeah, I’m doing well. Thank you. It’s rainy and grizzly in London, but I’m doing very well.
So what was it that drew you to the role of this nurse?
Eddie Redmayne: What drew me to the piece was how unexpected it was. But when I read it, it didn’t seem to fit into a box. On the one hand, it was this hero’s journey about this extraordinary woman who managed to stop this man from doing these horrific things. On the other hand, it was also about a system that was broken and had failed. But also, there was this intimacy in the friendship that felt like a character study. I just loved that it felt unlike anything I’d read and it didn’t fit into that sort of true crime, perhaps, genre. It felt like it had its own thing, really. It was a mixture of that, Tobias Lindholm—who I think is extraordinary—our director, Krysty Wilson-Cairns, our writer, and the phenomenal Jessica Chastain. Those were the massive appeals to me.
How familiar were you with the story when you got offered the script?
Eddie Redmayne: I’d never heard of it. The story revealed itself to me as it revealed itself to many people. I was so astounded, honestly, that I hadn’t heard of it, even more astounded to hear that my American friends hadn’t heard of it, because he’s probably the most prolific serial killer in American history. And yet, it made a bit of a splash in the news, but it wasn’t everywhere. You begin to go, Okay, so the system’s repressed the victims’ families and all those sorts of things. Was there something else at play here that it never made it always as loud as it should have done, perhaps?
Did you stay in character when you were off set or did you do stuff to lighten up the mood?
Eddie Redmayne: No, I have a six-year-old and a four-year-old so if I stay in serial killer mode, that’s no fun for anyone. Fortunately, actually, Jess and I are quite similar. We’re actors that—we prep a lot. We do a lot of that in advance. We like a bit of rehearsal. We were sent to nursing school. But then once we’re in, we’re in, but then we can jump out. She’s the queen of tequila so we would—every Friday after shooting because it was intense work while we were working. But once the cameras stopped rolling, we have the fun. You got, too. You’re living life.
Would you like to work with Jessica again?
Eddie Redmayne: I would love it. I would absolutely love it. She has a production company called Freckle Films and I have freckles. We both have kind of sort of ginger hair so I’m hoping that Freckle Films has a whole run of films for freckled people.
Alight. It was so nice to talk with you again and good luck during award season.
Eddie Redmayne: Thank you. Lovely chatting to you too.
Watch the interview below:
The Good Nurse is now streaming on Netflix.
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