How Close Are Jessica Chastain And Eddie Redmayne After Working On Netflix's The Good Nurse?
As far as everyone knows, Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne have a couple of things in common. Both are redheads and both are Oscar winners. And now, they're also about to share the screen together in Netflix's latest true crime thriller The Good Nurse.And while the film is intense, to say the least, fans are certainly thrilled to see Chastain and Redmayne finally collaborating, considering the two stars have known each other for quite some time.
Jessica Chastain And Eddie Redmayne Are Aware Of How Alike They Look
One may assume that Chastain and Redmayne came to know each other after running around in the same Hollywood circles for years.
But the truth is the two first met years ago at a children’s film festival in Italy, and they have been good friends since, so much so that they wouldn’t even hesitate to poke fun at their resemblance.
“I think we needed The Danish Girl, because everyone always talks about how we look alike,” Chastain even remarked.
“I took a picture of him in costume in character and I emailed Eddie and I said, ‘Stop taking my roles, (expletive).’”
And while the two have remained in touch for years, they haven’t found a project they could work on together.
In fact, the closest they’ve come was to serve as co-presenters at the Golden Globes in 2017. Back then, host Jimmy Fallon memorably rapped their names together as the two came out from backstage.
For Eddie Redmayne, Working With ‘Brilliant’ Jessica Chastain Was "Exactly What I Was Looking For"
Stars like Redmayne and Chastain typically get to choose their projects but finding one to collaborate on together proved to be tricky for a long time.
“We’re both very freckly, redheaded people, and we’ve always wanted to work together,” Chastain said.
Director Tobias Lindholm’s The Good Nurse finally presented an opportunity for Chastain and Redmayne to make that happen. It tells the terrifying story of Charles Cullen (Redmayne), a longtime nurse who also turns out to be a serial killer, having been responsible for the deaths of several patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Chastain plays Amy Loughren, Cullen’s colleague and friend who played a critical role in Cullen’s eventual arrest.
For Redmayne, he knew right away that he had to do the film with Chastain given the nature of the project.
"I’ve been in these big ensemble pieces—grand, symphony things where, as an actor, you’re playing one instrument—but I thought this would be more like improvisational jazz,” he said.
“And working with someone as brilliant as Jessica was exactly what I was looking for
And while Chastain was also thrilled to finally have a project with Redmayne, part of her worried about how it may affect their relationship moving forward.
“Honestly I was a little nervous because sometimes you can really like someone, and then you meet them on set and, especially if they're playing a complex character, all of a sudden their energy is different,” the actress explained.
Despite this, Chastain set out to work on the film with both Redmayne and Lindholm. The three were dedicated collaborators from the start.
“We had so many conversations before we even started. So we knew what we wanted with the film, and we were looking forward to it,” Lindholm recalled.
“We came in with an extremely caring and loving energy. The three of us would be the core. My idea was that the three of us would create this film together.”
Jessica Chastain Says Working With Longtime Pal Eddie Redmayne Was ‘So Lovely’
Chastain and Redmayne prepared extensively to tackle their roles. They even attended “nursing school” and spoke with Loughren about her encounter with Cullen.
“For me, the script was a complex story, a mixture of this very intimate friendship, a story of heroism by Jessica’s character, Amy,” Redmayne explained.
“But in some ways, it was a questioning of a system, and how that system worked or failed.”
And while Redmayne was portraying a serial killer, Chastain appreciated that her co-star wouldn’t transform into the character until the cameras start rolling.
“And what was so lovely about working with Eddie is that he's always as lovely as you see him now. He doesn't change, except when action happens,” she explained.
“Then it's a completely different energy. That's a huge gift because it doesn't torture the people around you when you're working. So I was really very, very grateful for that.”
Of their onscreen chemistry, Chastain jokingly remarked. “We play friends. That was hard.”
And while Redmayne was never in contact with Cullen (who is now serving 17 consecutive life sentences), the actor collaborated once more (they first worked together on The Theory of Everything) with movement coach Alexandra Reynolds to learn to move like Cullen.
“She noticed that actually it was almost like he was being held up by the label on the back of his shirt—that’s where all the tension was placed, and that was interesting to investigate something physically,” the actor explained.
At the same time, Lindholm had nothing but praise for his two lead stars. “They’re a dream, the two of them,” he remarked. “They look alike. They have the same humor. They have the same energy. And yet they’re so different.”
The Good Nurse premieres on Netflix on October 26th, 2022.
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