34 / 116
34
/
Flight Time
/
JULY 2018
Profile
country for the weekends, where we could
unwind with the children. This is where a bit of
lateral thinking came in. It suddenly dawned on
us – why not have our weekend place abroad?”
In the winter, when the weather in the
South of France isn’t quite so good, the family
would go skiing in the Alps and stay at the
luxurious Le Grand Coeur in Méribel – a
stunning chalet-style hotel nestled in the heart
of Les Trois Vallées, and a destination that
left a lasting impression on the actor. “I love
skiing, and when we were kids my parents
spoilt us rotten and took us here. I’d sit in the
bar and listen to this dude playing the piano;
I still aspire to be the piano man at Le Grand
Coeur, and that memory stays with me… as
does another, the most incredible bacon at
breakfast!” he laughs.
Eddie’s love for France hasn’t dimmed, and
though he and Hannah settled on a winter
wedding at Somerset-based private members’
club Babington House in December 2014,
they decided to celebrate their nuptials with
a short skiing break in the Alps that winter.
Anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting
the mountains during the festive period knows
how magical they can be, and despite there
being little skiing due to lack of snow that year,
the trip proved to be an excellent excuse to take
a break from the energetic lifestyle Eddie has
cultivated. “The temptation to travel is to see a
place and soak up as much as you can,” he says,
“but being away for a break is always when you
want to do very little and recharge. It’s a bit of
a juxtaposition when you think about it.”
The Redmaynes’ relaxation opportunities
are built solidly around movie schedules, and
even the couple’s honeymoon was delayed
because of awards season – his portrayal of
Stephen Hawking in
The Theory of Everything
saw the actor clinch the Academy Award
for Best Actor. And a year later, as Lili Elbe
– one of the first known recipients of sex
reassignment surgery – in
The Danish Girl
,
he was again nominated in the category.
While the big screen determines the
family’s mini-breaks, they are compensated by
the fact few children have the luxury of such
frequent and glamorous travel opportunities.
Even so, Eddie believes any brand of adventure
or excursion taken in childhood is vital for
widening our young ones’ understanding and
appreciation of the world.
“Any travel experience is so valuable,” says
Eddie, who attended famous Eton College – he
was in the same year as Prince William – before
reading History of Art at Trinity College,
Cambridge. “It’s a cliché but it really is the thing
that broadens our horizons most.”
Certainly, he has worked that creative
exposure into a number of lead roles over the
years. On leaving school, and already possessing
a long-held fascination with theatre – thanks to
frequent family excursions to London’s West
End – Eddie quickly established himself as a
promising talent on the capital’s youth theatre
scene, before landing his breakout role in 2011
as a naive film assistant opposite Michelle
Williams’ Marilyn Monroe in
My Week with
Marilyn
. But it was his memorable portrayal of
the late Stephen Hawking that transformed him
into a cinema sensation.
In spite of such a prolific run of success,
Eddie remains humble and circumspect,
revealing that he never had designs on
Hollywood. “I never set myself any specific
goals and I never had ambitions of becoming
a big star,” he demurs. “I’m only interested
in being part of good films, working with
talented people, and making the most of those
experiences. I’m very grateful for whatever
“I still aspire
to be the piano
man at Le Grand
Coeur, and that
memory stays
with me… as does
another, the most
incredible bacon
at breakfast!”