Oscar-winning British actor Eddie Redmayne has landed yet more work in the wake of his fantastic success this year, being cast as Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum in an upcoming biopic of the celebrated children’s fantasy writer.
Movie blog The Tracking Board broke the news on Thursday (August 6th). The film is reportedly based on a much-discussed screenplay by industry newcomer Josh Golden that was bought by the New Line studio last year after an intense bidding war.
Eddie Redmayne with wife Hannah Bagshawe at the 2015 Oscars
It apparently centres on Baum’s colourful formative years being raised in a New York Methodist family and the making of his 1900 novel, inspired by his ill niece Dorothy. The author made a total of 13 sequels to his runaway hit novel, which was famously adapted into the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland.
More: Eddie Redmayne lands lead in Potter spin-off ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’
Redmayne, who has been tipped for an OBE, was thrust into the spotlight of international fame when he won the Oscar for Best Actor earlier this year for his portrayal of Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.
Since then, he has landed the role of ‘magizoologist’ Newt Scamander in the Harry Potter spin-off movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and is gearing up to play the transgender artist Lilli Elbe in The Danish Girl as his next role.
In other Redmayne news, he also recently revealed the key inspiration that led him to pursue a career in acting was Sir Ian McKellen. Watching the legendary actor’s portrayal of Richard III in the 1995 movie version of the celebrated Shakespeare play sparked a passion for the stage and the silver screen.
The Eton and Cambridge graduate, 33, told the Daily Mail: “I went to probably the most privileged school in the country, and there, somehow because our country – because of Shakespeare – we have this extraordinary theatre legacy and we all feel like it’s very important and wonderful – and it is – but what I found is that I got into Shakespeare when I saw a film version of it with Gandalf playing Richard III, and that was when I first got really interested in theatre and in film.”
More: First look at Eddie Redmayne in lipstick for transgender biopic ‘The Danish Girl’
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