If you weren’t already manifesting for the day Stanley Tucci invites you over to sample one of his now famous martinis and spaghetti alla Nerano, you will after hearing about Eddie Redmayne’s experience of dining at the actor’s London home.
‘The best actor cook I know, and the best lunch invite you can get is from Stanley Tucci. Going round to his and his wife Felicity’s [Blunt] on a Sunday is like a culinary feast, as well as dying with laughter,’ Redmayne gushed during a recent game of Ask My Anything with ELLE UK.
‘Stanley Tucci and Fi’s speciality is pretty much everything Italian, as you might expect, but the thing that’s extraordinary is… you know when you go round to someone’s for dinner and they put all this effort in and they really make you know how much effort you’ve put in? Whereas you go to Stanley and Fi’s house and, firstly you’re given an extraordinary drink, some sort of Martini when you arrive, and somehow they’re cooking in front of you and somehow kind of including you and able to talk!
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‘When I have people over for dinner, they get banned [from the kitchen] – it’s really fun coming to my house – because you’re not allowed to talk to me. I can only concentrate on one thing at a time!’
When he hasn’t been feasting at Tucci’s house, Redmayne has starred in the newly-released Netflix crime drama, The Good Nurse, based on the 2013 book of the same name about an overworked ICU nurse (Jessica Chastain), who becomes friends with a new colleague (Eddie Redmayne) at work, but begins to doubt his character once a series of unexpected patient deaths come to light.
‘She has one of the most infectious laughs in the world, and when it comes out it’s a pretty guttural thing. It makes me laugh,’ Redmayne said of Chastain following their time filming the project together.
Speaking about Chastain’s character in the show, Amy Loughren, the British actor explained that in real life the nurse was suffering from a heart problem and required a heart transplant. 'In the film, Jess asked for an earpiece to be put in one ear, and it would be a heartbeat,' he explained, 'The director would have the capacity to shift the heartbeat during a scene. Jess would be playing a scene and then suddenly her "heart" would start beating. That’s a hidden secret to The Good Nurse.'
Elsewhere in our interview with the Oscar winner, Redmayne opened up about living with ex-flatmate Jamie Dornan in Los Angeles and hanging out with their mutual friend, Andrew Garfield (‘normally we were eating out because you got free parking and could play table tennis for an afternoon’), his habit of watching Love Island on the set of Fantastic Beasts, and his love of crisps.
‘The thing that reminds me most of home, and the thing I always eat the second I get off a plane at Heathrow airport, is that I go to WHS Smith and get a packet of salt and vinegar Squares or salt and vinegar Discos…’
On whether he’d prefer to have Wotsits for fingers or a Quaver for a nose, despite loving the greasiness, 'orangeness', oiliness and taste of the former crisp, the impracticality of the cheesy baked corn snack makes it a loser in the actor’s eyes. ‘A Quaver for a nose would be wonderful because you could occasionally just have a nibble,’ he replied, before attempting to lick his nose with his tongue.
Elsewhere, Redmayne discussed his top tip for nailing an American accent, which of his characters he’d love to go to the pub with, and his favourite fancy dress costume.
Watch Eddie Redmayne’s Ask Me Anything video at the top of this article.
'The Good Nurse' is out now on Netflix.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
