OSCARS producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin announced today a third slate of presenters for the 88th OSCARS telecast.

Among the new names are stage and screen star — and winner last year for THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING — Eddie Redmayne, alongside theatre vet Cate Blanchett, INTO THE WOODS’ Emily Blunt, THE WIZ LIVE’s Common, comedian Louis C.K. and more.

“Through their work, these artists have shown us the unique, transformative power of cinema,” said Hill and Hudlin. “We are delighted they will be joining us on the Oscars stage this year.”

The OSCARS, hosted by Chris Rock, will air live Oscar Sunday, February 28, on ABC. [Source]

Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander’s critically acclaimed drama The Danish Girl is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on the 9th May, released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Inspired by the lives of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, this remarkable love story comes with an exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of the film.

In the 1920s, a strong and loving marriage evolves as Gerda Wegener (Vikander) supports Lili Elbe (Redmayne) during her journey as a transgender woman. Through the other, each of them finds the courage to be who they are at heart.

Academy Award® winner Eddie Redmayne and Academy Award® nominee Alicia Vikander star in the film, helmed by Academy Award®-winning director Tom Hooper. The Danish Girl co-stars Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard and Matthias Schoenaerts.

The release is nominated for four Academy Awards® including Best Actor (Eddie Redmayne), Best Supporting Actress (Alicia Vikander), Best Costume Design (Paco Delgado), and Best Production Design (Production Designer, Eve Stewart; Set Decorator, Michael Standish). [Source]

The event will be emceed by James Corden with a menu by chef Gordon Ramsay.

Oscar hopeful Eddie Redmayne will co-host the “Film is GREAT” reception in West Hollywood with British consul general Chris O’Connor.

The evening will be emceed by James Corden with music from Jamie Cullum and a special menu from chef Gordon Ramsay.

“I am thrilled to be co-hosting this year’s Film is GREAT reception,” said The Danish Girl actor. “The range of British talent — both in front of and behind the camera — recognized by the film community over these past few months demonstrates the strength of the British creative industries.”

“Film is GREAT” is a part of the GREAT Britain campaign, which is meant to showcase the best of what the U.K. has to offer the world and encourage people to do business with, invest in, visit, and study in the U.K.

“Film is GREAT” will take place on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 in West Hollywood. [Source]

Tom Hooper, director of “The Danish Girl,” says Eddie Redmayne was under a ton of pressure to do justice to Lili Elbe.

“The more he found out about Lili, the more he felt that burden,” Hooper told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Yet despite all that anxiety and worry, when we came to shooting, when the camera was turning, he was able to be completely free of that.”

“The more I work with actors, the more I realise the ability to transcend one’s anxiety is utterly central to being a great actor,” Hooper added. “Anxiety affects your freedom to be in the moment and those actors who are not controlled by anxiety are free to be truly great.”

Redmayne, in an interview with Reuters, admitted he sometimes felt “scrutinized” on set.

“The first time I walked on set (as Lili) I felt scrutinized, I felt the gaze of other people and I felt nervous,” he said. “It was interesting because it was something that a lot of the (trans) women I’d met had spoken about.”

Redmayne is currently shooting “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling. The film, set 70 years before Harry Potter, sees Redmayne in the role of Newt Scamander, a “magizoologist who’s just completed a global journey to find and document magical creatures for a book he plans on writing,” producer David Heyman recently told Empire.

Redmayne, to prepare for the role, said he asked Rowling “800 questions.” “I met J.K. Rowling and what’s so amazing is that her imagination is so full and thorough,” he told ComingSoon.net, adding that “it’s so encyclopedic of her world.”

David Yates, director of the final four “Harry Potter” films, directs “Fantastic Beasts,” slated to hit theaters Nov. 18, 2016. [Source]

Priyanka Chopra, Brie Larson, Eva Longoria, Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne, Sarah Silverman and Jacob Tremblay will be presenters at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, Executive Producer Kathy Connell announced today.

They join a growing roster of actors who will honor their colleagues at the SAG Awards® Ceremony that already includes Life Achievement Award presenters Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT).

Priyanka Chopra appears in the television series “Quantico,” which returns from hiatus in March, for which she received a People’s Choice Award. Chopra also is in pre-production on “It’s My City,” a series she created for the nexGTV digital platform, and is set to release three Indian regional films through her production company Purple Pebble Pictures.

Brie Larson is nominated this year for her first SAG Award, as lead female in “Room,” a role that also earned her an Oscar® nomination and a Golden Globe. Her upcoming films include “Kong: Skull Island” and “Free Fire.”

Eva Longoria has two Actors® and three additional SAG Award nominations for “Desperate Housewives” in the category Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. She currently is starring in the comedy series “Telenovela,” which she also executive produces

Oscar awardee British actor Eddie Redmayne has proven his diversity in the acting department through such critically acclaimed performances in “The Theory of Everything” and the recent “The Danish Girl.” It appears he is also unafraid to do some serious stunts himself.

In a recent interview with Pottermore, acclaimed stunt director Eunice Huthart spoke about the stunt-work in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” She, in particular, talked about Eddie Redmayne’s (Newt Scamander) enthusiasm and willingness to do exciting, dangerous and life-threatening stunts on his own.

One of those dangerous stunts involved, according to the correspondent, was dangling Eddie Redmayne from the sky. “Eddie’s great. We just tell Eddie what to do and he does it,” Huthart spoke of Redmayne.

“‘I have never had to talk him into doing anything. Eddie’s just like, ‘Come on guys, what are we doing now? Bigger, faster, harder!’ It’s more a case of me telling him, ‘Eddie, we can’t do that!’ We need to make sure he can work tomorrow, you know,” Huthart added, complimenting Redmayne’s enthusiasm. She added that it is “so much fun” working with actors like Eddie Redmayne because they are unafraid to take risks.

It should be noted that Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double, David Holmes, was paralyzed for life after performing a flying stunt for “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1” back in 2009. He said he was thrown against the wall during a stunt and landed on the crash mat underneath and was only 25 years old back then.

Congratulations to Eddie!!

He will compete with Leonardo DiCaprio, who received a nod for revenge epic The Revenant, which leads the pack with 12 nominations.

Redmayne secured his nomination for his role as a transgender artist in The Danish Girl and will also compete with Irish actor Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs, Matt Damon for The Martian and Bryan Cranston for Trumbo.

He talks of all-night shoots, leaving Leavesden studios, in Hertfordshire, in the morning for the airport, hopping aboard a jet to LA, walking the red carpet, returning to the airport, reboarding the same plane and going straight back to Leavesden for another all-nighter. It’s a suspended version of reality, made more surreal by his time spent wielding a wand in the wizarding world.

When we sit down to discuss Wallpaper’s Design Awards – and Redmayne’s votes in our 11 Judges’ Awards categories – over a burger in London’s Soho, I begin by asking how he remains sane when so much of his time at the moment belongs to other people. He’s quick to acknowledge his luck: ‘For all of the mad hours, the travel and the tiredness, I remind myself constantly how fortunate I am to be working at this level,’ he says. ‘I put my all into it because I love it, and I’m a firm believer that the effort and time you put into something is rewarded by what you get out of it.’

However, Redmayne talks about his increasing appreciation of the moments when he can slow down. ‘I find life noisy,’ he says. ‘With the benefits of being more connected comes the danger of being sucked into a world of more noise, where we are constantly switched on. Living in the moment feels more difficult than ever, and more valuable.’

We talk about what design means in his life. He is cultured and thoughtful. He speaks of growing up in London in the early 1990s near the UK’s first Muji store and being fascinated by the compelling simplicity of the brand’s everyday objects. ‘I spent an unhealthy amount of money on stationery as a teenager,’ he says. ‘Today, I suppose I see good design as not being just about beautiful things, but about things that work; things that work well for me and how I live. Good design, in my opinion, is something that makes life easier, that reduces friction and brings pleasure at the same time.’

Since Eddie Redmayne can’t get his hands on a Time Turner (he is a muggle, after all), the British actor, 33, has found a way to fulfill his longtime dream of starring in a Harry Potter film. The Oscar winner is playing Newt Scamander in J.K. Rowling’s upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

But Redmayne recently revealed in a new interview that before he donned the magizoologist’s robes, he longed to play member of the massive Weasley family, which in the films included Harry Potter’s best friend Ron (Rupert Grint), future wife Ginny (Bonnie Wright), twins Fred and George (James and Oliver Phelps), Percy (Chris Rankin) and Bill (Domhnall Gleeson).

“For years I was always like, in the Harry Potter films, there was a whole ginger family, and I never got an audition. And I was like, ‘Come on, it’s outrageous!’” he quipped during an interview with ITV’s Lorraine (via the Daily Mail). “So I was desperate. Every actor in England was in the Harry Potter films, but I never got the call. Now I’m having my moment.”

That’s a bit of an understatement for Redmayne, who picked up the best actor Oscar for portraying Stephen Hawking in 2014’s The Theory of Everything and is already getting some awards season buzz for his role in The Danish Girl, in which he plays Lili Elbe, one of the first known people to receive sex reassignment surgery.

Fantastic Beasts will hit theaters in November 2016, and it’s the first film in a trilogy, all penned by Harry Potter scribe Rowling. [Source]