Eddie Redmayne Earns High Praise For His Performance In 'The Theory Of Everything'

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones have emerged as Hollywood stars with the TIFF premiere of The Theory of Everything, a film based on the life of Stephen Hawking and his first wife, Jane Hawking.

In the film, Redmayne (Les Miserables) plays Hawking opposite Jones, who portrays Hawking’s wife Jane, and the film follows the two as they fall in love, get married, and deal with the hardships of Hawking’s motor neurone disease, as well as his scientific triumphs. The film, directed by James Marsh, is based on Jane Hawking’s memoir, Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen.

The trailer, released before the festival, already had a fair amount of Internet buzz, and both Redmayne and Jones are far from newcomers. However, the two young actors are already being heralded as the biggest discoveries to come out of TIFF this year. Redmayne’s performance has earned him a mountain of praise, and many are convinced he is a shoe-in for a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars. Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter likened Redmayne’s performance to that of Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-winning turn in My Left Foot, praising Redmayne’s “soulful, transformative work.” In fact, The Hollywood Reporter awarded Jones and Redmayne with their Annual Breakthrouth In Film Award.

“Redmayne is masterful at switching between Kawking’s frustrations with each setback – first it’s shuffling, then a cane, then two canes, then a wheelchair – and his irrepressible sense of humor,” wrote Mashable’s Josh Dickey.

“Redmayne, who manages to look incredibly similar to the real-life subject, eventually must convey a depth of emotion with the subtle movements of raised eyebrows and a focused gaze,” wrote IndieWire’s Eric Kohn, who added that Redmayne and Jones saved the film.

Vanity Fair simply titled their review, “Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are Extraordinary in the Sharp Biopic The Theory of Everything”: “Throughout, Redmayne’s physical performance is a marvel, from literal head to toe…It’s a really striking performance, about which one might say ‘Eddie Redmayne becomes Stephen Hawking,’ but that would b a bit presumptuous, as I don’t personally know Professor Hawking,” wrote Richard Lawson.

The Theory of Everything hits theaters on Nov. 7.