Here’s a fun piece of movie trivia: At the same time Eddie Redmayne was winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Theory Of Everything, he had a film in theaters in which he gave what some consider to be the worst performance of the entire year. That film was Jupiter Ascending—a truly bonkers movie in which Redmayne manages to stand out as particularly bonkers. Recently, in an interview with GQ, the actor offered an explanation for his pouty, whispery portrayal of space autocrat Balem Abrasax, which he acknowledges is pretty fucking weird.


“My character had had his larynx ripped out by this wolf man, and so I made the slightly bold choice—which I thought was right—of talking like this,” Redmayne says, putting on the breathy, choked affectation he uses throughout the film. He adds that at the time he thought the voice suited the costume and elaborate sci-fi world of the film, but in retrospect can see that it may have been a bit much. “I won a prize for it for the worst performance of the year,” Redmayne adds, referring to his 2016 Razzie award for Worst Supporting Actor. “So, yeah, it was a pretty bad performance by all accounts.”

To Redmayne’s credit, he seems to be able to laugh off the harsh criticism he’s received for the film, saying that he considers himself to be “a bit of a Marmite actor,” meaning people either like what he does or hate what he does. While he’s still likely going to be asked about Jupiter Ascending for years to come, we’re sure the Oscar statuette sitting on his shelf makes it a little easier to shrug off the hate.


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