Eddie Redmayne may not have won a major acting gong this past awards season, but he more than ruled the red carpet.
In the past few months, there have been quite the few turnouts for the actor courtesy of his creepy portrayal of serial killer Charlie Cullen in The Good Nurse, the chilling true story of how he murdered dozens of people by administering lethal doses of insulin.
Nominated for best supporting actor at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and SAG Awards (not to mention the appearances Redmayne made at multiple film festivals and premieres), it gave the Brit ample opportunity to flex his fashion like never before.
His looks included a daring Maison Margiela Haute Couture suit, black Alexander McQueen jumpsuit (which the 41—year—old wore sans shirt), chocolate brown Valentino suit with matching silk rosette and one unforgettable white Saint Laurent blouse with an oversized bow high on the neckline.
The man behind Redmayne’s transformation is Harry Lambert, the celebrity stylist responsible for the sartorial success of Harry Styles, Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor. In London recently for the launch of Omega’s Aqua Terra Shades collection, Redmayne—a long—time Omega ambassador—revealed that Lambert keeps his roster of talent to a select few and it was only after seeing him perform as the Emcee in the 2021 West End production of Cabaret (for which he earned a Laurence Olivier Award) that his interest was piqued.
As for Redmayne, with two young children, a press tour and awards season, he was simply happy to have some assistance in the styling department after managing it himself in past years.
We sat down with the actor, to discuss the newfound theatricality to his dressing, his enduring love of watches and all things classic, plus why the new Omega Aqua Terra shades have a unique significance for not only his wardrobe—but his eyesight.
GQ Australia: Let’s talk about your red carpet looks this award season under your new stylist. How did this transition come about from the traditional Eddie Redmayne in a tuxedo to the more fashion-forward Eddie Redmayne?
Eddie Redmayne: “One of the wonders of our job is playing dress up. One of the reasons you get into acting when you’re a kid is transforming and the theatre of it, I suppose. And I’ve always been riveted by fashion … for all the years styling myself, you get to meet designers and see the brilliance of what they do quite up close and personal.
And I always enjoyed doing that and I enjoyed being playful with it, but [now] I have two children, I had a big press tour for The Good Nurse and I didn’t have enough time to go and organise myself, but also I was beginning to go, ‘I want to enjoy the theatre of it and I want to get a new set of eyes on that.’ And I’d seen Harry Lambert, who’s my stylist, who worked with Josh O’Connor, who is one of my favourite actors and Emma Corrin, and the work that he had done with them, I saw as so intriguing. There was a classicism to it, it was playful, so I asked Harry if he’d be up for it and he was.”
You starred in Cabaret in London’s West End in 2021. How did you enjoy that experience of being back on the stage?
“It was a passion project of mine. And interestingly, I think the reason that Harry Lambert, who couldn’t have been more busy, was up for working with me. His books were closed, but fortunately he’d seen and enjoyed Cabaret.
That period, it was so intense. It was almost monastic I think, because it was incredibly physical and vocally, you can’t go out, you can’t go to a restaurant, you have to sleep in [and given] I had two young children, my wife was taking the burden. It was incredibly rigorous… It felt like a marathon in some ways, but it was also the most thrilling experience in my life.
This was a production that was very intimate and we did it straight out after the embers of the pandemic, the end of it and you felt this need for people, whether it was the actors or the audience, to have interaction and that level of intimacy and it was astonishing to be a part of.”
You’ve been an ambassador with Omega for eight years. How do the watches fit in with your new style?
“It’s been quite effortless really, in the sense that I will choose what to wear. And I’m lucky that there is such a variety within what Omega does, that there’s always something that seems to sing with what you’re wearing.”
Have you always worn watches? What’s your relationship like with them?
“I have always been a watch man. My dad had an Omega De Ville—very beautiful, very classic and he is an elegant man and it was very much a treasured thing.
So when I started wearing watches, that was what I was aspiring to I suppose. But one of the joys I’ve found with Omega is that there is so much storytelling. They have such a ripe history and one of the things about going [to Switzerland] with them is seeing the intricacy of the craftsmanship involved in telling these stories.”
Do you pick a watch to suit your outfit or the other way around?
“So the big elephant in the room is that I’m colourblind. But it’s called red-green colourblind [and] it just means you confuse colours. I see fully in colour, but probably how I see colours differs from how you see it. But it has meant in the past—and it’s one of the reasons having Hannah as my wife is very influential—is that I have an amount of shoes and outfits that are quite a nice colour, [but] they end up being a complete catastrophe, or clashing unexpectedly.
What I love about the Aqua Terra, firstly, I love the simple classicism, the shape of it. But I love that the colours give it a vibrancy. That means you can wear something quite classic and it will do the talking for you. So particularly some of the colours how I see them, particularly the Terracotta colour, they’re unique, they’re not that obvious. They do punch a bit and so I probably wear something pretty simple and let the watch do the talking.”
Are you the sort of person who runs early or runs late?
“I mean, my wife runs very late. We got married at a place where I knew where she was getting changed and the church was just here because I knew that she would be late. And after 40 minutes, everyone was looking at me nervously being like, “Is she going to come? I’m very nervous, this is expected.” So I’m depressingly early. I quite like getting places early in order to be able to sit, relax, like at the theatre, to enjoy the moment. I love having time to enjoy, to indulge in nothingness.”
In terms of the sizing of watches, what’s your take on that?
“I think it’s all proportionate. And I’ve always been someone … I don’t, despite my best efforts to go to the gym, have massive forearms. I’m not sure I can pull off the Daniel Craig number. And so I’ve always preferred the proportion of scaled watches and it’s one of the reasons I love this new Aqua Terra range. It instantly felt like a good fit. But interestingly, my wife loves wearing the men’s watches. She loves wearing them as a piece of jewellery, like a bangle almost.”
You’ve mentioned Daniel Craig. Omega has this long history and relationship with Bond. You’ve said previously that you love watching it but you’d hate to play it. Is that still true?
“Yeah. You don’t want to butcher your favourite things, they’re your heroes … I’d much rather go and watch an actor that I admire. It is slightly like meeting your heroes, don’t. I always think with… you know what your boundaries are. And I love James Bond, but I’d much rather watch someone else.”
Your next big project is The Day of the Jackal. It’s been a long time since you were part of a project for TV. Why the change?
“Like most of us, I’m an addict to long full television and the intricacy and the depth of having these characters that you sit with for weeks on end. Since doing Cabaret and The Good Nurse, I had a very thrilling year making those two things, they were both really inspiring projects and really galvanised my love for what I do. And so I was waiting to see what it would be that would really inspire me and these scripts came along. They’re written by a brilliant man called Ronan Bennett. As each episode I read, I was desperate to read the next. They were thrilling. I loved the original film and I love the book. And yet they felt so up to date and deeply compelling and quite emotional. So as far as going back to television, it felt entirely the right format for the right story. We don’t start shooting for a wee bit. But in the prep of it, I’m hoping it will be something super special.” [Source]
