I enjoy the way Eddie Redmayne does his Oscar campaigns. It never feels too in-your-face, although he probably does as many media interviews and industry screenings as a Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet. Part of it is that even though Eddie does his share of press, usually the interviews aren’t all that newsworthy or quotable. He’s a nice guy, he’s uncontroversial and he’s not particularly quotable. Eddie covers the new issue of British GQ to promote The Danish Girl. And he ends up confessing to a good deed. If, say, Leonardo DiCaprio told this story, I would roll my eyes and scream “STOP HUSTLING.” But because it comes from Eddie… I don’t know. It feels like he didn’t even mean to admit this.
He occasionally pays young actors’ rent: “The greatest privilege that I had was that my parents lived in London. So when I was out of university and out of work for a year, working in a pub, I didn’t pay rent. And I get letters from people trying to go to drama school and needing to pay their rent. And so that’s something I occasionally do. It’s impossibly expensive to live in London.”
On the challenging acting roles he chooses: “I think people look at it and go, urgh, you want to try and do something transformational. And it’s not true – just, if you’re lucky enough in your lifetime to get two parts that are interesting and challenging to play, then it’s a privilege really.”
British commenters insist that Eddie’s background is really posh. He did go to Eton at the same time as Prince William, then Eddie went on to Cambridge, and then he almost immediately moved into a full-time career as an actor and model. So… I have a hard time believing that he has any first-hand knowledge of what life is like for a struggling actor, but I’ll give him props for stepping outside of his bubble of privilege and trying to help out young actors. And it’s also nice to know that he reads the letters he gets sent!
Also: Eddie has been confirmed for a presenting gig at this year’s Golden Globes. Other presenters include: Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Channing Tatum, Patricia Arquette, Mel Gibson, Jamie Foxx, J.K. Simmons, Julianne Moore, Amber Heard, Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell, and Jaimie Alexander. Eddie’s probably going to present at all of the awards shows, and then he’ll get the exciting task of announcing this year’s Best Actress at the Oscars. YAY!
Photos courtesy of Tom Munro/GQ UK.
I like those stories of relatively low-key charity that can change people’s life around. My neighbour once had a troubled teen live in his spare room for a year, on or off, without asking for compensation, knowing his family was toxic. Years later, this teen -now a stable adult- told him he did the same thing, as a way of saying thanks.
Paying a month of rent can seem small when you have a lot of money, but it’s empathetic and kind.
Good for him. Pay it forward. I wasn’t born into opulence, but this has always been my goal. Eat half your sandwich and give the other half to someone who is hungry. Keep it quiet, do it from your heart and you will be wealthier than J. Paul Getty.
I agree that he’s lovely for doing this. However, I’m of the mind that he should not have mentioned it.
“Good deeds done quietly are the greatest gifts.”
It sounded like he was speaking to understanding how he was privileged so I give the benefit of the doubt here. Plus, mightn’t it inspire a similar good deed from someone else?
I used to think anonymity was best but now I feel differently, maybe not for little things like this but for big donations I think it’s important to be really loud about it. Going public encourages/shames others into doing likewise.
OH COME ON. I rolled my eyes so hard they are now looking at the back of my head. I don’t even know how I’m typing this since I can no longer see my keyboard. And I have no idea how I will write him a letter asking for help with my rent.
Well, yes, I was thinking that he will certainly be flooded with requests now. Not very smart. But nice, I think. My dad used to pay the heating bills of some elderly people in our town. A little gesture can mean a lot.
Abbott I completely agree. He campaigned hard last year and he’s still THIRSTY.
Ridiculous posh way of doing charity to artsy people.
Yeah, what a jerk. He should be shot for extending a hand to some struggling actors who should just give up their dreams and get real jobs. Who needs art or artists, anyway? He should keep his posh stupid money in the bank and stop trying to make difference in other people’s lives. I can see why this disgusts you. (No, actually, I can’t.)
I think I love you.
here here GNAT!
BOOM!
GNAT always speaks the truth
I know right?! A rich kid helping people?! What a jerk. Can’t he just spend his money on coke and hookers?!
You win
Where is that Mic Drop emoji! It needs to be here!
This isn’t like Jack Nicholson paying rent of young actresses. Although, reading the headline I thought it was. He seems genuine.
@GNAT
Oh, we do need artists and actors, but we only need a handful of cute, famous, and good ones, so why support all the others? 🙂
No, I agree. And why do we know about this now, in his GQ interview in the lead up to the Oscars?
“And why do we know about this now, in his GQ interview in the lead up to the Oscars? ”
To be fair he is doing the promotion work for the Oscars, this is why we find out now. When he wasn’t promoting anything he wasn’t doing interviews and naturally we didn’t know about it.
It is suspicious because he doesn’t seem to go to the charity events often like other celebrities do (James McAvoy) , but I think we just have to wait and see. He has been campaigning for 2 years, and before that I really didn’t know anything about Eddie so I don’t know what pre-campaign Eddie was like.
Right, James McAvoy talking about doing something like this wouldn’t bother me because he’s put in some legwork. To me, he has credibility. Eddie Redmayne, at this point, not so much. But I’d love to be proved wrong.
It is good that he realizes he is lucky, although I doubt he sees how many and how far reaching those advantages are.
He’s just pandering to Oscar voters. Did it last year when he campaigned. Doing it again to be nominated/win. Next time he’ll casually mention how he found a cure for cancer.
He’s cute and a good actor but am the only one who finds him creepy? I saw Danish Girl recently and for some reason he was freaking me out.
He’s the male version of Rooney Mara to me. She scares me too lol
If the story is true good for him though.
I think it’s the face. It looks like it’s melting off his head.
Words cannot express my love for you.
Just so you know, I went downstairs to get more coffee and my husband heard me chuckling so I told him what you said and he went to google Eddie.
It’s a mean thing to say but when i was watching Danish Girl i was thinking that he looks way better as a woman lol
I went to school with someone who looked like him. He had an autoimmune disease. It pulled and tightened his skin around his cheekbones and jawline. You could say his face was melting, but damn if he wasn’t THE CATCH in a very large school…. He said it was his silver lining and he took advantage of it.
Not that anyone complained.
It’s his lips. when I look at the whole package, he’s adorable. But when I zero in on those lips I get some Joker mouth vibes.
I adore him, and think he’s handsome, and yet I find myself laughing hysterically at this.
He has to take the kinds of roles that require a physical transformation, his face is too weird to play an every man Joe. Also he is really channeling angsty James Deen in that final pic….theres another biopic idea for you, Eddie.
James Dean or James Deen? cause those will be very different films 😉
I will never unsee the Rooney Mara thing!
I find his acting really awkward and occassionally good.
I find him very odd looking, can’t really watch his movies without feeling a bit uncomfortable. I have a similar reaction to Cumberbatch. I can’t figure out why so many women are attracted to them :). They’re both look like aliens to me.
As to paying rent, I think it’s very noble of him though I have to say that the timing of this disclosure is a bit suspicious. I guess he’s STILL thirsty.
@Minxx
I am always so puzzled when people compare the two.
I do see that BC is “unconventionally attractive”, but he is tall and manly, and I think if he were a nobody, he still wouldn’t have any problems finding girls.
ER, however, is completely unattractive, tiny, and mousy to me. I’d never be attracted to him in real life, heck, I’m not sure I could be attracted to him even as a celebrity.
I think his mouth is too big for his face. But he can look rather handsome. He wasn’t a Burberry model for nothing. I think he looks rather dashing in the Fantastic Beasts.
I saw him in Les Miserables all those years ago, didn’t know who he was, he didn’t make any impression on me, good or bad, including the looks. There was nothing that bothered me. So it can’t be that bad.
The scene where his Alicia puts makeup on him really made me go “wow you look exactly like a muppet.”
Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a good actor but, to me, he looks like he could be Carol Burnett’s son’s. So creepy…..
good for him doing that, but it’s so try hard having to share. btw i don’t dislike this dude at all, he seems nice and a good actor too (bit overrated though) but he’s thirsty for recognition. and fine who isn’t? we all want to be celebrated and recognised in whatever job we do, but hE IS MORE.
He’s a good actor and he seems like a decent human being but he hustles for his awards almost as hard as Leo, Anne Hathway, and Alicia Vikander. He’s just rather low key about it and he doesn’t get the same amount of attention as the others (even Alicia gets more now imo with her fashion and career) at this time so people overlook it and he doesn’t get the backlash that others do. Some people think his hustle put him over Michael Keaton last year in the BA race…. Granted, the attention level may all change when Fantastic Beasts comes out.
I can never forgive him for snatching the Oscar from Keaton. Never I tell you. Never!
I’ve always kinda liked him and his plaid suits but I agree that he hustles as much as the rest of them…it’s just packaged in his low key British way that makes it comes off more charmingly.
I am certain hustle got him the Oscar over Keaton. Eddie could’ve been a politician. He is a natural at it.
interestingly though we have no idea what his political views are even though he has been in the spotlight for 2 years now. That is a skill in itself and a choice. He works very hard not to offend anyone and make everyone like him.
This is very kind, but not charitable. Studying to be an actor in London does not make you a charity case.
The cynical voice in my head also wonders whether these actors are pretty young things he’s met somewhere.
This was my thought. It all depends on *who* he is helping.
I’m all for anything that extends access for working class (and middle class, for that matter) people into the arts, since they are being progressively and aggressively shut out since the financial crash of 2008. And we are seeing the results not only in the ubiquitous castings of the Eton Mafia, but also in everything that goes on behind the scenes, which in turn affects the films and TV shows that get made. We’ve pretty much already lost a generation of non-U creatives and we’re in danger of losing the next generation.
But y’know. If Eddie’s just basically extending mates rates for marginally less well-off friends of friends of friends, then it’s simple kindness, not worthy philanthropy. If he is actively choosing those who are entirely excluded, then it’s both.
I like Eddie and rate him as an actor. But he is master of using the humblebrag-masquerading-as-Britisher-self-deprecation. And that seems to play well with the international award-voting audience.
Young actors often write to well to do actors for funds upon entering drama school. This is probably what he is talking about. I don’t think he is talking about mates.
“But he is master of using the humblebrag-masquerading-as-Britisher-self-deprecation.” YES. This is exactly what I was trying to say above, although you articulated much, much better. 🙂
Esmom – I think he is definitely using that as his USP. I get it that the business is such that they all have to have one, and this one plays very well stateside, but it does make me eye roll a bit. I still like him though: he seems relatively harmless and I think he has talent. The worst that I can really say about him is that, in UK terms, he’s an exemplar of class privilege. 7% of the population competing for 70% of the jobs. And the system, not him personally, is responsible for that.
I like him and agree with your assessment. We don’t know who and how he helped anyone and I side-eye him for even mentioning it in an interview. It’s like when celebrities say thank you when they hit the million followers mark on twitter. Remember, “I appear to have over 1 million followers on Twitter. Well, blow me down & slice me with hot buttered toast, what a thing. Hello.” The brag is so obvious, but couched in gratefulness.
I’d be happier if these wealthy, advantaged actors set up scholarships to those less privileged (like McAvoy did) and if they get the opportunity to direct, make an effort to hire at least some that didn’t come from the public schools.
““But he is master of using the humblebrag-masquerading-as-Britisher-self-deprecation.””
Is it Eton’s trademark? I think prince William’s and Eddie’s body language and even facial expressions are rather similar in their public appearances.
All posh people can do it, but Redmayne’s and PW’s generation seems especially prone to it. Slightly older Old Etonians like Dominic West and Damian Lewis seem less humblebraggy and more straight-up confident, as does their contemporary PM Cameron.
I agree, if he really wants to help young actors who can’t afford to study he’d be better to establish a scholarship or something, that way there can be a process to ensure that the people who get helped are the people who really need and deserve it. Writing to a well known actor and asking for financial assistance seems like the sort of thing that would only occur to someone relatively privileged.
I wondered the same. Somehow it brought to my mind the scene from Dangerous Liasons when Malkovich tries to cover up to Pfeiffer his daliances with a courtesan…
“From time to time I make a small contribution to her purse. That is all”
I thought the same thing. We’ll find out soon enough, someone will tell.
My cynical voice is SCREAMING rent boys. Isn’t that the British term for male hustlers? Is this to shut down any potential gossip? It’s a good deed not paying for sex ….
With due respect to all posting, this seems rather artful back-stabbery. ER isn’t responsible for the system that is, he’s the grateful recipient of its benefits and is doing his bit as an individual citizen to help those who have articulated a need (to him) for assistance navigating in it. To criticise him for handing out an assistance package by saying that surely those who’ve pinged him aren’t needy enough is simply to miss the point. He is not the university or the drama school who gets to review all the applicants and make determination about the most needy – if you want to criticise the system, do so. But to come down on random acts of kindness seems to say more about the poster than about the actor, if I”m honest.
Very nice, a young but established artist helping out struggling and/or up-and- coming artists.
i don’t mind him and it’s cool but this seems an odd place to just throw that out there
Agreed. I think it’s a really nice thing to do, acts of kindness like that can have a ripple effect when paid forward, but talking about it in a magazine seems weird.
I’m more interested in the articles on the cover than ER.
Didn’t like the film, was really annoyed by Amber Heard.
This seems to be my overall reaction to all the oscar considerations for this year. Except for CAROL.
same, was very unimpressed with the danish girl
i dont even think it’s a race this year. Leo best actor, Larson best actress and spotlight best movie seem like locks already
It’s nice ,and it’s also very very smart of him to address that issue. Because in the last months , there’s been many complains in the Uk that it was now almost impossible for actors from modest backgrounds to make it because Dramas School were too expensive .
And they all pointed out that that the all the british actors in the limelight, are from privileged background, and went to private schools-or Public School as they name them ( notably
Redmayne, Hiddleston, Cumberbatch, and Hardy ).
Judi Dench said that people from working class background are held back, and that she was consistently asked by young students to help them to to fund their Schools , but she can’t help everybody because its that expensive.
cumberbatch, redmayne and hiddleston’s generation actually has a decent mix of privileged and less privileged actors because there was still funding available to less privileged people for drama school when they were coming up. It’s a issue that is coming up now because of funding cuts made after they were already out there, acting
tbh i always struggle with this because i have an ingrained us perspective and we all have to take loans and works our butts off for school no matter what the major. you can get gov student loans for all the drama schools in the uk i believe save RADA
J – the problem is getting postgrad funding. Every UK student can get undergrad funding – and the repayments are more like a graduate tax than a loan, so much, much easier to fulfil than US student loans (you only pay back when your income meets a certain level, so some students will never have to pay back. Even so, I believe in free higher ed).
The elite acting/creative training in the UK is for postgrads not undergrads. Funding, bursaries and grants have been so severely cut back since 2008, you really have to be rich to afford the course, let alone London rents.
Good point J. I remember reading Hiddleston saying that when he was in school, tuition for RADA was only 2k as opposed to what it is now. He paid for that tuition with his tv acting gigs.
I was reading this article from Nov, about this actor doing some reading in a library. And in the article, it said he’s trained at RADA and was sponsored by Sir Ian McKellen, Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston. I think that’s a nice way of giving back. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/wwi-brought-life-liverpool-central-10385845
Anon222–well, that’s pretty awesome. Thank you for that.
Having read a certain blind item pointing very much at him, this charity sounds a bit creepy…
oh come on. the fact he might be bisexual doesn’t mean he’s preying on every man he meets!
True, but the way it came out (no pun intended) right now seems odd. Something feels off about this. Like one of commenters said, it feels to me as if there was another shoe to drop.
It’s not charity if it’s a humble brag in an international magazine on which you are the cover story! If he’s doing this for reasons other than shamelessly begging for another Oscar or covering-up potential scandal, then I want to hear about it in about twenty, thirty years when someone he helped get established makes it big. I want to hear about this like I want to hear that Liz Taylor ran an underground AIDS drug market: decades after it happened because it was done out of real compassion and class.
I grew-up in one of the most affluent school districts in New England and an administrator there, Mr Y, would occasionally pay for a prom dress or a tux rental so that kids could attend the prom. Small school so everyone knew everyone else’s business BUT only a handful of people knew about Mr Y’s generosity and it wasn’t until I was in college that my mother nonchalantly told me about it when he retired. I was floored. If people knew, they didn’t discuss it, it wasn’t advertised and that made it so much more meaningful. He was a class act. Moral of the story: be generous because you want to be, because you can, but don’t advertise it.
I know I’m cynical, but I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop on Mr Sunshine here, he’s just TOO much.
+100
This. Also I find weird everyone goes “oh he is so sweet” for him, when he has been hustling and humble-bragging for two years now in cumberbatch-hathaway levels.
Oh, for God’s sake! Can we simply accept the idea that someone wanted to help another person who was struggling, without suspicion? I would love to get used to hearing something like this every day, from anyone. Well, not Donald Trump, because that would be calculating. But anyone else would be great. It’s corny, sometimes self-serving, but wonderful.
“Michael, row the boat ashore…..hallelujah…..”
I guess I need to be more cynical. I’m surprised at the attitude towards this.
Ha, I hear you. In some ways I’m more appalled at the thought of people writing letters to him asking him to pay their rent. Who does that??
Kids who have a bit of savvy and enough in the way of both self confidence and vague connection to get out there and ask. In all likelihood, not the worthy-but-underprivileged types that Eddie is hoping we will imagine.
I mean, it’s not Jimmy Mac creating and funding training scholarships for the demonstrably underprivileged, is it?
I tend to think the same way, I was a young actress once and it simply would not have crossed my mind to do this. That said, I think there is a weird British precedent for this. I have read similar accounts about other older British actors. I think, if I’m not mistaken, that some acting schools have ways of their students getting in touch with former alumni – some alumni seem open to it, even if it’s just a letter of encouragement. I think Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins were both generous to young actors, there was an Eastenders actress here who mentioned Hopkins not long ago as generously paying for her last year of drama school. So it does happen in the U.K. and Eddie comes from a very traditional stand up sort of background that I can believe he would pay it forward. Why he is discussing it I’m not so sure, maybe he wants to inspire other successful young actors to do the same – but I’m less cynical about Eddie, I can’t help it, I buy the bashful shtick!
Interview mentioning Hopkins’ generosity here http://www.thefreelibrary.com/HANNIBAL+LECTER+CAN+POP+IN+FOR+HOBNOBS+%26+TEA%3B+East+Enders+star+Kellie…-a0159446465
Hmm… Never thought of that.
Maybe they didn’t ask directly, but just mentioned that they couldn’t pay the rent…trails off..
I am pretty cynical but the reactions here are a bit surprising. He does something nice occasionally. Nobody claims he’s saving the world one hipster actor at a time. This is why we can’t have nice things. Everybody just always sh*ts on everything and everyone.
I also don’t see why a nice gesture only counts if you keep it secret at all costs. WTF? Sometimes it inspires people and they realize that you don’t necessarily need to go war-torn countries to do good. You can do small things too. I usually don’t go around telling everyone what kind of volunteer work I do or where I donate. But sometimes it comes up in conversation. I guess that means it doesn’t count anymore.
“I also don’t see why a nice gesture only counts if you keep it secret at all costs. WTF? ”
On Cumberbatch article (about Syrian refugees campaign) a few days ago it was exactly the opposite – people were saying that he needs to contribute and make it known, not only campaign for the charities. Except Cumberbatch probably did contribute but didn’t announce it.
It is a case where they can’t win. But if they keep doing it consistently eventually people will accept that it is done for charity and not self-promotion.
Exactly, Fahri. It reminds me of a common criticism of Angelina Jolie… that she publicizes every donation she makes, every charity she visits, etc. Even if we skip the whole “publicity = more awareness = more donations” argument (the publicity is often the whole point!), it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that we WOULDN’T KNOW about the private/secret stuff. By very definition, it’s impossible to compare public and private acts. So we’re left to judge the publicized acts of charity, and many just assume it’s the whole picture.
And I’m with you, littlemissnaughty… this feels a lot like someone bringing up a volunteer gig when a relevant topic comes up in conversation, not tooting their own horn without being asked. (Every time I bring up my own volunteer stuff, it’s because someone has showed interest in something similar, and I want to encourage them/pass along helpful information. There’s nothing wrong with that, and if anyone is judging either of us, that’s their problem!)
I will never understand the urge to dissect and attack acts of generosity. There are so many toxic and selfish behaviors being rewarded every day in Hollywood/among the upper class in general. Why waste time picking apart the exceptions? Even IF it’s for “image” purposes, I’ll take acts of kindness over the majority of PR stunts.
I actually like this a lot. Whether you consider it a brag or not, I think it is great that having achieved success he is helping others out when living and studying in London is so expensive.
About his “being posh”; Can I point out something? We hear a lot about his poshness because of the school he attended. But he moved back home when he had to just like any other broke young person. That doesn’t scream millions to me, if they were that rich he would have had a penthouse in Mayfair. I speak somewhat from a personal perspective: my son is attending a very expensive private school, but we are far from rich. This is the place where we chose to spend money rather than having a second car or fancy clothes or a bigger house or whatever. I don’t complain, it is not like we have to go without food, but just because a person attended an expensive school it doesn’t mean his family was rich. It may have been a real effort for them and you may be surprised at how grateful he really is at his success. He sure comes across like that in interviews. If any of my British CBs know more please share. I choose to believe he is a nice guy doing a nice thing. And if sharing it inspires succesful colleagues to do the same, then I am all for it.
vauvert – Redmayne is properly posh. Part of the British (self-replicating) establishment. You can follow his family at http://www.thepeerage.com/p44484.htm#i444833 and trace the diplomats, top military bods, baronets etc, from whom he descends. He’s proper Old Money.
Thanks Sixer.
I still think that it is a nice gesture, regardless of whether he was rich to start with or not. In fact, it seems to me that having never been the stereotypical starving actor himself, it really is kind of him to help out. It may not be a big cause or whatever, but I bet it matters a lot to someone who has to make a choice between rent and food. Hope other successful actors do similar things.
I fell down the rabbit hole googling stories on Eddie just last night after watching him on Graham Norton. Eddie grew up in a 2.5 million dollar house in London and the family’s summer home in France is rented out for nine thousand pounds a week. His father is the head of Cantor Fitzgerald. The Redmaynes are very well off.
So many of the successful young Brits right now are super posh/privileged in background: Benedict, R.Patz, Hiddleston, a lot of the minor actors who are jobbing here that haven’t quite made names for themselves abroad (Max Irons, Tom Sturridge, Douglas Booth etc.). I think Eddie dresses a bit more like modern landed gentry and doesn’t try to act like he is street (cough R.Patz and crew), same with Cumberbatch. So I’m not going to slam Eddie for admitting he is privileged enough to help young artists.
I don’t think he is humble bragging, he is just owning who he is, unlike some others in his acting peer group who’d rather act like the world is so hard for them/they just want to live in East London and act urban when they all went to boarding school too.
For reference, this comedian Jack Whitehall (who owns and makes fun of how posh he is) has some hilarious tales of his school days with Pattinson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRHOI2CJKDE
I’m not against him being privileged. I just find it a bit off-putting that he’s chatting about his generosity in an interview.
Is he raising awareness about the issue with fees and cost of living (and if so, why isn’t he helping to organize something, even contributing to a stipend fund?), or is he humble-bragging about his generosity?
Oh, and I forgot to add, I didn’t know that about Jack Whitehall. Thanks for the link!
See, 2.5 million dollar house in London doesn’t scream ‘incredibly privileged’ to me. 2.5 doesn’t go that far in London. I have a lot of friends living in London and most of them are paying off a mortgage on a similarly priced home, or renting something worth far more than that. Obviously they have good jobs, but nothing amazing, just standard middle tier office workers.
“But he moved back home when he had to just like any other broke young person. That doesn’t scream millions to me ”
From what I read of him and his family background it definitely screams “millions” and well-connected financiers to me. Same goes for his wife Hannah’s background.
Often rich kids don’t have support from their family financially as a way to force them to make a way for themselves (Trumps, Hiltons etc. ) but they still have their education and connections and know how to talk and who to talk to.
I think this is the way here. If Eddie wasn’t an actor he could be a politician.
@vauvert, London real estate is so insane these days that a penthouse in Mayfair would be £10-15m minimum, or £4000 per week minimum to rent. Even a wealthy person like Redmayne’s dad doesn’t have that kind of cash floating around to drop on his son. (The only wealthy British person I’ve ever heard of who did that kind of thing is Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who is worth almost £4 billion). Allowing him to live in their Chelsea home rent-free is enough of a privilege in London! And I agree with you that what Eddie has done is a very nice thing indeed.
I hope he gets snubbed.
Cover the mouth and hes very conventionally attractive. Something about his lips together with his other features make the face oddly elf-like.
This is so nice of him. Honestly, fans reach out to him, he has the means to do it, so what? I’m quite surprised by the skepticism in the comments, I must say.
My college (Yale) roommate went to Eton so now I feel super fancy by association. Never seemed like a particularly bright person though. So yeah, Eddie must have been pretty loaded/connected as well.
Which college do you go to ?
Yale. Going to Yale doesn’t mean that one is loaded since they give out up to 100% financial aid for tuition and expenses depending on calculated need so there is quite the spectrum, but my roommate definitely was on the higher end.
I was kidding. I have lived my life on scholarships.
I think it is nice of him, but Eddie is doing this out of sympathy. And no one wants charity and definately no one likes sympathy (at least I don’t). He doesn’t know what it is like to really struggle and make ends meet for people. So don’t talk the talk, if don’t walk the walk.
I thought most people appreciate sympathy. It isn’t Eddie’s fault his parents are wealthy! The thing that counts is that he seems to be a kind-hearted person.
So he helped someone out—-why is this seen as unsavory? The world needs more people like that.
I understand what you are saying. But what if he doesn’t want to do this anymore? I do like Eddie Redmayne, and it is nice of him to think himself less, but what he can do is to plead with the UK government about the school tuition high cost.
Kiki, the cost of university tuition in the UK is a hot-button issue. It is extremely political. If I were Redmayne (or any other actor wanting to remain politically neutral) I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. School is another matter altogether, as the UK government has nothing to do with the cost of public (US private) schools like Eton.
I’d be able to take him more seriously if he did it. Complaining about the problem, casually letting slip his own generosity, but backing away from actual sustainable effort? It makes me side-eye him.
“And no one wants charity and definately no one likes sympathy”
but that’s what these young upstarts are asking for in this case.
“So don’t talk the talk, if don’t walk the walk.”
He acknowledged his privileged background in the same quote by saying his rent was paid for by his parents.
I said that because maybe he could try walking a mile in struggling person’s shoes for a change. Maybe I don’t understand the quote but I would like him better if he said I am showing empathy.
“I said that because maybe he could try walking a mile in struggling person’s shoes for a change.”
Why would someone with enough resources to live a comfortable life do with less? It’s a personal choice if so, not what others feel he should do. In fact, I’d respect him less because he did it to win points from us commoners.
“Maybe I don’t understand the quote but I would like him better if he said I am showing empathy.”
And to me, paying rent for those struggling seems pretty compassionate to me. I think what he did was right. Acknowledged his privilege and helping those who are less fortunate. There’s nothing more he needs to say or do. He’s using his wealth and privilege for good.
I can only gather from your statements that he needs to give up his wealth to understand “empathy”, which realistically, he probably won’t do, unless he gave up fame as well.
“And no one wants charity ”
You’re assuming people who are struggling badly enough to actually ask a stranger for money, don’t actually want it given to them out of goodwill or a desire to help? Is pride that paramount?
Exactly. How can one ask for empathy for the less fortunate, when one can’t even factor the desperation of those in need. Asking for or getting help is not wrong, nor will it ever be.
“Is pride that paramount?”
Speaking from the personal experience all the pride goes out of the window after about 2 days of having nothing to eat. Survival takes over.
Well, no one wants charity. They’ll take it and they should if that’s all there is, but imagine being offered a choice between an actual stipend or rent relief versus writing to a wealthy actor to take occasionally take pity and pay the rent. How many people would pick option b?
Ok. Then shamelessly as someone to live in their own wealth for once then. I am not saying that if someone gives you food yku should take it is not good but I am just saying that Eddie Redmayne is rich and privilege, if he understood what it feels like to be poor, he would feel empathy. This sounds like “oh you poor thing, let me make life easier for you” shtick.
That’s all i am saying.
Talk about damned if you do and damned if you don’t!
Very nice of him to do so. People born into privilage should be doing their bit to restore a bit of balance into the world. He was so forgettable in Danish Girl though and his lips took me out of the movie.
Eddie seems to be so calculating to me. I can’t get over it.
Other than that he is in damned if he do and damned if he doesn’t situation.
I need to see him out of the Oscar campaign mode ( for a couple of years) to figure out what is real and what is not.
‘Occasionally’ just seems strange. Like once in a year? Maybe he should sponsor a student for a year or so. Paying some random person rent once a year is good, but it doesn’t provide stability it is more like winning a lottery.
Yes! This is it, I’d like to see him out of Oscar-campaigning mode, mature a bit, and we’ll revisit. He simultaneously gives me the creeps and the, “oh, he’s lovely.” I’m cautious because I’ve known plenty of his type and they were all perfectly fine people but…
He needs to go to some kind of boot camp for British actors run by people from the Blackadder crowd.
A foundation or some kind of scholarship would likely be a more constructive use of his resources or even becoming a patron of some charity/foundation that does this sort of thing.
ITA. Someone mentioned James McAvoy trying to give back through his school: something organized and stable rather than occasional noblesse oblige from a toff.
I like Eddie and I disagree about him being so thirsty. All news I read about him on 2015 were about the fact he won an Oscar and that he was playing a trans woman. If he was so thirsty for recognition and Hollywood stadom, I surely would’ve heard much more than that.
I agree with the author on Eddie’s sharing of that. I don’t have any problems with people talking about charity, tbh. Being charitable is a great thing and something to be proud of. Some people talk about it and it truly seems they don’t care for the cause as much as they care of the positive effect it’ll have on their image, but a lot of times, I think people dislike others talking about their charity job because they simply feel guilty about not doing anything. You can ALWAYS give. ALWAYS. You’re the one who is choosing not to.
I’ve watched his work for quite while and I love him, he is superb at his craft.
Its so nice that he does things like this.
He, Kate Blanchard and Helena are my favs.
When i lived with my parents when i was out of college and working i still had to pay ‘rent’ , it was obviously a lower rent than id pay in my own place, but what right had i to be there and not contribute towards bills? I had friends who got to live in their parents home for free even though they could have handed up part of their wages and i couldn’t believe how they felt that was ok… even if your parents won’t accept it there are other ways to make it up, My friend lived with her boyfriend’s family while they saved up for a house and they wouldn’t take any money so she just bought them really great xmas presents like a surround sound system and new furniture. Anyone who is living with their parents and not doing their share with the bills are just freeloaders, plain and simple.
If the parents want it that way (mine did but I also wasn’t back long enough to even find a job before I found a “real” job) and the kids are fine with it, why do you care so much? You don’t have to live it. A freeloader exploits others. If everyone wants it this way, it’s not really freeloading.
Not every family has this separation of ownership and money. In my culture parents and kids are pretty much a single unit.
Parents help kids, in return kids help their kids, and help taking care of parents when they are old. Older parents often live with their kids and help with childcare and house chores.
To us it is very strange to see people putting their children in childcare when they have retired parents who could take care of them for free. It is just unthinkable. Just as asking kids to pay rent would be just as unthinkable.
My kids spend every summer with grandparents for free ( it goes beyond saying). And they wouldn’t have it any other way.
ok, so we’ve established that you’re morally superior to all your friends whose parents DIDN’T want to take money from them for whatever reason, whether it’s as rent or presents…… do you want a cookie, now?
Different families and cultures have different views on this subject, as littlemissnaughty and Farhi have made it amply clear. Your friends may be freeloaders, but you certainly seem judgmental and not a little narrow-minded.
Spot on! I’m laughing reading your response because I had a similar reaction to LMN, Farhi, teacakes reading Lou’s responses.
Moral rectitude is such a subjective thing … I think you (Lou) are holding up your friend living with her boyfriend’s parents and buying them surround sound systems as a laudable example. Meanwhile, my first response was to wonder if the BF’s parents weren’t wishing she’d saved her money for her own place instead! After all, there’s a difference between supporting your child as opposed to the child’s girlfriends and boyfriends …
I realise that my judgement of a situation wholly unconnected to me is no different to anyone else’s of Eddie’s or Lou’s friend personal situation … but I thought I’d just verbalise that issuing caveats like this is a slippery slope. You hold yourself up to be judged just as thoroughly as you judge another person.
In the UK it isn’t rent but board – ie paying towards your keep.
I mean…it’s a nice thing to do. But all I read was this:
“OMG it’s sooooo expensive to live in the city. Not for me, but for the poors. And that’s why, when the poors reach out to me for rent money, sometimes I give it to them.”
And it sounds TERRIBLE. Just. Don’t talk about your “charity work” unless you’re trying to build awareness about it or encourage other people to take up the cause.
really, damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Posh actor acknowledges his privilege and makes the mistake of saying he sometimes helps out younger, poorer actors financially = what a famewhore, why doesn’t he campaign the government instead! (and in the meanwhile, the poor sod who needed the money so as to stay in London and work/study and not be on the street, can just wait…)
and the poor sod who did campaign the government (cumberbatch) was equally raked over the coals.
… okay, I don’t support all of Cumby’s arguments on the Syrian refugee crisis either, but one can’t help but chuckle that the chap who tries to [rally the masses] to take on the government gets raked over coals and is told to stay low and instead try to do as he says. And the chap who does [what he says] is raked over the coals for mentioning what he does and is told to change the system instead.
no wonder it’s so hard to change the world … 😉
Really tacky to mention it. If Cumberbatch had said this you’d be lynching him. Redmayne has to up his game to win for a second year so he’s laying it on thick
At least he’s a man of action. Cumberbatch has yet to house a Syrian family in need of a home, yet he mouths off on people who can barely afford to keep up their own costs of living.
Do struggling actors really write out to successful actors to pay their rent? I could see one or two doing that on a lark, but that many? I ask, mainly because of the odds of a successful actor actually giving into the rent and paying the rent for you seem so low.
Maybe not struggling actors but drama students, absolutely. This is what Judi Dench said last year…
The Oscar-winning actress said: “Anyone who’s in the theatre gets letters countless times a week asking for help to get through drama school. You can do so much, but you can’t do an endless thing. It is very expensive.”
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/sep/13/judi-dench-actors-held-back-by-wealth-divide-drama-school
He really is a good guy, I’m starting to like him.
@kate, I agree. $2.5 million is about £1.7 million, which gets you a small terraced house in a not fashionable area of London these days. Now, his parents’ house was described as being in Chelsea and for that reason alone I suspect that if it’s of any size at all (and he’s got lots of brothers and sisters) it will be worth more than that.