Stephen Hawking is portrayed in the forthcoming biopic "Theory of Everything" by "Les Miserables" star Eddie Redmayne, and the pair's first meeting recently was reportedly a success.
"I apologized to him for having studied art history. He understood and smiled," Redmayne
told the Daily Mail of their encounter.
The two discussed the upcoming film, which focuses on the renowned physicist's first marriage, and the actor said he could see why "women flock to him." Redmayne's conclusion was simple: "He loves women; women love him."
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The film is based on the autobiography of Hawking's first wife, Jane Wilde, who married him shortly after he was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease in 1963, just before he turned 21. At the time, doctors said he had only two years to live, but the pair got hitched anyway.
They eventually split after three children and decades of marriage in 1995, by which time Hawking had long been confined to a wheelchair.
In the movie adaptation, Jane is portrayed by actress Felicity Jones, who helped propel the scientist to the stardom he enjoys today.
Redmayne said he was instantly inspired by the story and the script, saying, "[Hawking] was given two years to live and that made him determined. How does someone get that kind of diagnosis and choose to live that kind of life? He chose to live life with a twinkle in his eye."
The actor was so dedicated to his portrayal of Hawking that he had to regularly visit an osteopath during the shooting, as he contorted himself often to portray the now 72-year-old Hawking in his middle and older age.
"It’s been unlike anything I’ve ever done, and when you’re portraying someone as formidable as Hawking, you feel a responsibility to portray it as a real condition and not make it up," Redmayne explained. "My body was manipulated into different shapes in front of a mirror to match what happened to him."
Anthony McCarten, the scriptwriter, said the film is about "the limits of love," rather than Hawking's professional achievements as a physicist and cosmologist.
"Stephen lately acknowledged that he couldn’t have achieved what he did without her. She gave him a balanced life, and from that platform he was able to concentrate on unlocking the secrets of the universe," he said.
The movie is set to open in theaters on January 1, 2015.
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