Redmayne, who won the trophy in 2015 for playing famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in the film, said that like any other upcoming actor, he started out by dreaming of earning a living through his chosen profession.

“The odds are against you because there are so many people wanting to work in this world and there are so few parts. For many years, I would just audition and try to get a job,” Redmayne told PTI in an interview.

He added, “The big change that the Oscars made is that instead of just auditioning for jobs and then accepting them when you get them, it suddenly gave you this incredibly cool notion of choice.”

The actor started his journey in London’s West End theater and then starred in the critically acclaimed films “My Week with Marilyn” and “Les Miserables”.

The past decade has been nothing short of extraordinary for Redmayne, who followed “The Theory of Everything” with another captivating performance in “The Danish Girl,” Tom Hooper’s film about 20th-century transgender artist Lili Elbe.

He was also cast as Newt Scamander, the lead character in the “Harry Potter” spin-off film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and its two sequels.

In 2020, Redmayne played political activist Tom Hayden in Sorkin’s legal drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7” alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Frank Langella and Mark Rylance.

Redmayne is grateful for the opportunities he has received.

“Working with diverse filmmakers of different styles, different genres, from the magical world of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ to working with Aaron Sorkin on ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ and now doing this, playing a killer… I love the variety that having some options has allowed me,” he said.

The actor’s latest role is that of the Jackal in “The Day of the Jackal,” a series adaptation of author Edward Forsyth’s 1971 classic novel of the same name.

The book, which was adapted into a film in 1973 with Edward Fox in the lead role, explored themes of espionage and high-stakes danger, as the titular character prepares to assassinate the French President.

The actor said he has been a fan of the book and the original film because he finds Fox “mysterious but quite opaque”.

“You never got a sense of what was going on inside him. But what I liked about the character was he was an extremely brutal killer as well as an actor. His shape would change, his Redmayne said, “I thought there was something fascinating about the idea of ​​an actor playing an actor.”

The new show, directed by Brian Kirk, sees the Jackal making his living by delivering hit movies for top fees.

The official synopsis reads, “But after his latest murder, he meets a determined British intelligence officer who begins tracking the Jackal in an exciting cat-and-mouse race across Europe, leading to devastation ”

In the age of fast-paced thrillers, Redmayne said the idea of ​​the Jackal character is somewhat outdated.

“There was something I would describe as analog. Nowadays when we watch these thrillers, everything is on the computer. Whereas, what I liked is that for them, it was really about the craft. It’s about making these guns, quite complex traps or schemes that he delivers with precision like a Swiss watch.”

What was also interesting, the actor said, was that there was a kind of moral ambiguity towards the Jackal.

“You give me work, you give me enough money, and I’ll make it happen. So on the one hand, he has that quality, but there’s also almost a kind of sociopathic element that he, even in this other life, is kind to his family. , appears to be caring and loving.

“And yet he has never married these two worlds, or had the courage to believe that he could live these two kinds of bipolar existences at the same time. But throughout the series, you see him living those two We see them coping with things and trying to fit in, and that’s the problem.”

Describing his character as a chameleon, the actor said that what was unique about the jackal’s character was his gentle quality.

“They have a kind of casual timelessness and also an opaque quality that people want to know about and learn about. And whether that was in the version established in the sixties or in our version now, it’s a mystery. The one that everyone wants to open – peel, it’s quite interesting,” he added.

The 10-episode series “The Day of the Jackal,” written and broadcast by Ronan Bennett, also stars Ursula Corbero, Charles Dance, Richard Dormer, Chukwudi Iwuji, Lia Williams and Khalid Abdullah.

The series, written by Ronan Bennett, is produced by Carnival Films, part of Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, and was commissioned by Sky Studios and Peacock. It will premiere on JioCinema Premium on November 15.

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