WhenEddie Redmaynewas in the running for an Oscar for his performance inTheory of Everything, some wondered if his chances would be hindered by his performance in another movie that came out just as Oscar voting was underway:Jupiter Ascending. The original sci-fi film fromThe Wachowskiswas an ambitious, bold epic that showcased averyambitious,verybold performance from Redmayne as Balem Abrasax, an emperor who controls the wealthiest business empire in the known universe.
Redmayne’s performance as Abrasax isout there, complete with a voice that modulates between a whisper and a scream over the course of a single sentence. Ultimately the role didn’t hurt the actor—he won the Oscar for his stunning turn inTheory of Everything—but questions remain about his choices made while makingJupiter Ascending.
And now we have answers! As part of a GQ video in which Redmayne runs down his most iconic performances, he seems to admit his performance inJupiter Ascendingis, well, bad:
“People seem to either enjoy what I do or loathe what I do, and for those people that loathe what I do,Jupiter Ascendingtends to be their favorite of my performances (laughs). I won a prize for it for the worst performance of the year, so yeah it was a pretty bad performance on all accounts (laughs).”
The actor went on to explain why his voice is so strange in the film:
“His larynx had been ripped out by this wolf man, so I made this slightly bold choice—which I thought was right—of talking like this for the whole film, which I felt suited the costumes and the extremity of the world. But in retrospect it may have been too much?”
Honestly I kind of love the boldness of Redmayne’s performance in that film, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. This is a movie whereChanning Tatumplays a wolf man with rocket boots. It’s weird! So a weird performance was warranted.
Redmayne also made a point to note how much he enjoyed working with the Wachowskis onJupiter Ascending:
“But I love the Wachowskis. I have never felt so free on set. Lana would just scream notes like, ‘Do it like an accountant!’ but my interpretation of that was to shout really loudly, which is very odd because I have a kind, gentle accountant.”
Check out the full video below. TheJupiter Ascendingtalk begins around the 7:40 mark.
