- Christian Coulson, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 2001. Poor Redmayne. He was rejected after reading one line at his auditipn for Tom Riddle in the second Potter experience. Fourteen years later, after winnin g the Best Actor Oscar (for The Theory of Everything, 2013), he was the sole target for JK Rowling’s new hero, wizard-magizoologist Newt Scamander. He signed on andf helped cast for the trilogy in five parts(!). No prequel or sequel to her Potterverse, said Rowling, but an extension of the wizarding world, starting in 1926 New York – and 54 years before Harry Potter was born.
- Jason Statham, Gnomeo and Juliet,2010. Redmayne and Anthony Anderson were early suggestions for Tybalt, Gnomeo and Benny’s nemesis, in this red v blue garden gnomes’ take on Shakespeare (voiced by Patrick Stawart) with, of course, producer Elton John’s songbook – Benny and the Jets, ,Rocketman, Your Song, et al. Bard jokes included the As U Like It moving company… and and houses numbered (but you’re ahead of mer) 2B and Not 2B.
- Martin Freeman, The Hobbit trilogy, 2011.
- Aaron Tveit, Les Misérables, 2012. Director Tom Hooper wanted Redmayne or James Campbell Bower to play Enjolras. They did not.
- Dane DeHaan, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2013.
- Hugh Jackman, Rise of the Guardians, 2011. Possible voices for the Easter Bunny ranged from those of Ed O’Neill, at 65, to Eddie Redmayne at 29..! Bill Hader, Michael Keaton and Daniel Stern were also heard before Jackman won his second DreamWorks toon… this time retaining his strine. Other guardians included Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, Tooth Fairy and a Santa Claus complete with tatts and a Russian accent!
- Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy, 2013. The most Lucasian of the Marvel films… In the (crowded) battle of new Hollywood guys for Peter Quill/Star Lord were all the usual prerequisites… Seven TV finds (Pratt, Cam Gigandet, Jack Huston, John Krasinski, James Marsden, Lee Pace, Aaron Paul), three science fiction favourites (Jensen Ackles, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Rosenbaum), a couple of triples (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Logan Marshall-Green), two hot Brits (Redmayne and Jim Sturgess), two Aussies (Joel Edgerton, Sullivan Stapleton), two Total Outsiders (Chris Lowell, Glenn Howerton). And an ex-hottie on the comeback trail (Wes Bentley) .Pratt was a surprising Disney choice given that in his last far-from-family-film, Movie 43 (“the Citizen Kane of awful” – Chicago Sun-Times), the tragically-named Pratt defecated on his (real) wife, Anna Faris, during sex.
- Jamie Dornan, Fifty Shades of Grey, 2013.
Mark Wahlberg tried to buy the porno novel. Social networks were full of weird suggestions for the porn novel’s BDSM lover, Christian Grey. From Robert Pattinson, Matt Smith to Henry Cavill (well, S/M also stands for Superman) and Captain America Chris Evans (as if Marvel would allow that). None led to talks, auditions or tests. Because the suits had eyes only for Ryan Gosling. No way, said he. Most wise. Next target was Charlie Hunnam. He agreed and then suddenly quit because of his Sons of Anarchy, series (among other issues), and a second batch of front-runners were seen: Luke Bracey (the inevitable Aussie), Canadians Patrick J Adams and François Arnaud (well versed in jiggery-pokery as Cesare in The Borgias series), plus Scott Eastwood, Theo James, Billy Magnussen – and Alexander Skarsgård, playing Tarzan by then with an Anastasia Steele hopeful, Margot Robbie. (Hunnam had also been in the ape-man mix). The first group had been Amell (he preferred Oliver Queen, aka DC’s Arrow, TV 2012-2016), ex-UK model David Gandy (who simply refused) while two other Brits, Christian Cooke (from Love, Rosie with London model Suki Waterhouse up for Anastasia) and Dominic Cooper (perfect, surely!), Aussie Daniel McPherson – and Santa Monica’s Ryan Paevey actually auditioned. As for the Belgian hunk, Matthias Schoenaerts – he fell asleep reading the scenario. Oh, and author EL James vetoed any idea of of Dornan’s pal, Eddie Redmayne! (This, of course, was before his 2015 Oscar for The Theory of Everything!). They were all lucky to escape the turgid, totally un-erotic enterprise. Only 14 minutes and 17 seconds of sex, no orgasms – and pubes added digitally to actors’ genital patches!! And poor Dornan was a zero without his beard. - Toby Kebbell, Fantastic Four, 2014. Marvel wanted the Four back and offered Fox an extension on its Daredevil II plans. No way! So, in the mix for the third Victor Van Doom/Dr Doom were Redmayne, Domhnall Gleeson, Jack Huston, Sam Riley. As for Danish Mads Mikkelsen, he simply stalked out of his audition! They were lucky to escape what Hollywood Reporter critic Todd McCarthy called “a 100-minute trailer for a movie that never happens.” Film flopped. (Only ever made to save the rights). Marvel icon Stan Lee saw it coming and refused his seal-of-approval cameo. Kebbell called it a learning experience. Said Redmayne: “I don’t have a massive amount of faith in myself but I do have a competitive edge.” That was before winning the Best Actor Oscar on February 22, 2015, for The Theory of Everything. Too important, therefore, for superheroics. Then again, his main Oscar rival, Benedict Cumberbatch, joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Strange.
- Adam Driver, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, 2014.
- Russell Crowe, The Mummy, 2016. “Welcome to a new world of gods and monsters…” In this reboot of 2007’s unmade Mummy 4- Rise of the Aztecs (replacing hero Brendan Fraser (no, really) with Tom Cruise), five actors were in the horror mix for “Henry” – Dr Jeykll, that is. Crowe, Redmayne, Javier Bardem, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy. However, Cruise’s Mum flopped (a mere $4000m globally) and Universal scrapped its Dark movies about Dr Crowe and Bardem as Frankenstein’s creature.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 11