Claim: While in college, Eddie Redmayne acted in stage productions.

Edward John David Redmayne , -LRB- -LSB- ` rɛdˌmeɪn -RSB- born 6 January 1982 -RRB- is an English actor of stage and screen . Born and raised in Westminster , he studied history of art at Trinity College , Cambridge , after which he briefly dabbled with a modelling career . Redmayne began his professional acting career as a youth in West End theatre before making his screen debut in 1998 with guest appearances on television . His first film roles came in 2006 with Like Minds and The Good Shepherd , and he went on to play supporting roles in several films , including Savage Grace -LRB- 2007 -RRB- , Elizabeth : The Golden Age -LRB- 2007 -RRB- , and The Other Boleyn Girl -LRB- 2008 -RRB- .   Redmayne also starred in the stage productions of Red -LRB- 2009 -- 10 -RRB- and Richard II -LRB- 2011 -- 12 -RRB- . The former won him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play . His film breakthrough came with the roles of Colin Clark in the biographical drama My Week with Marilyn -LRB- 2011 -RRB- and Marius Pontmercy in Tom Hooper 's musical Les Misérables -LRB- 2012 -RRB- . In 2014 , Redmayne portrayed English physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything , winning an Academy Award , a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor . The following year , he played Lili Elbe , one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery , in Hooper 's The Danish Girl , which saw him nominated for Best Actor in the three aforementioned awards . In 2016 , he starred as Newt Scamander in the fantasy film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them .