The British Oscar winner received the award of the 18th Zurich Film Festival tonight in the sold-out Convention Center and presented his new film THE GOOD NURSE as a European premiere. In his acceptance speech, Redmayne said that this award meant a lot to him and it was an honour to receive the Golden Eye. He added that it was very emotional for him to be here in Zurich because the ZFF was the first film festival he was ever invited to 15 years ago.
Eddie Redmayne is one of the outstanding character actors of his generation. Before his career as a film actor, the Academy Award® winner worked in a pub as he was unsure whether acting would work out. Meanwhile, the general public knows him as Newt Scamander from the fantasy franchise FANTASTIC BEASTS and arthouse audiences from sophisticated dramas like TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7.
At the Green Carpet in the Festival Centre this afternoon, after the one hour ZFF Masters he held earlier in the Arena Sihlcity, the likeable British actor took a lot of time for his fans, signed autographs and had his picture taken. With his charm, filled the Green Carpet at the Festival Centre. Afterwards, the award ceremony took place in the sold-out Convention Center (Kongresshaus) and his latest film THE GOOD NURSE by Tobias Lindholm celebrated its European premiere. In his acceptance speech at the Convention Center, Eddie Redmayne emphasised his emotional connection to Zurich. He was invited to a film festival here for the first time in 2007. Back then, he presented the drama SAVAGE GRACE alongside Julianne Moore. He later went on to win the academy award for THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking. “Many thanks to the Zurich Film Festival, which has a very special place in my heart,” Redmayne said.
Christian Jungen, Artistic Director of the Zurich Film Festival, praised the young actor’s abilities, which comes to the fore once again in THE GOOD NURSE and declared: “The way Eddie is able to portray the inner turmoil of his character is great cinema. It is truly a spellbinding performance.”
In THE GOOD NURSE, Redmayne plays Charles Cullen, the nurse who became known as the “Angel of Death.” The film tells the story of Amy, a compassionate nurse stretched to her physical and emotional limits by the hard and demanding night shifts at the ICU. But help arrives when Charlie (Eddie Redmayne), a thoughtful and empathetic fellow nurse, starts at her unit. But after a series of mysterious patient deaths sets off an investigation that points to Charlie as the prime suspect, Amy is forced to risk her life and the safety of her children to uncover the truth.
Born in 1982 and raised in London, Redmayne took to the stage at an early age: He was in Sam Mendes’ OLIVER in London’s West End, and performed and featured in many British theatre productions. Movie directors soon began to take a growing interest in the actor and, while he was playing smaller roles, for example, alongside Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons in the two-parter ELIZABETH I (2005) or in Robert De Niro’s directorial work THE GOOD SHEPARD (2006), he won a starring role as the lead in Tom Kalin’s SAVAGE GRACE (2007). His breakthrough in entertainment cinema came with Tom Hooper’s LES MISERABLES, featuring an all-star cast ranging from Hugh Jackman to Russell Crowe, from Anne Hathaway to Amanda Seyfried.
Previous award winners are among others Iris Berben, Kristen Stewart, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Malkovich, Helen Hunt and Olivia Colman.