Eddie Redmayne reveals he helps struggling actors to pay their rent

The Oscar winning actor said he is keen to help those who came from a less fortunate background
Helping hand: Eddie Redmayne
Yui Mok/PA
Emma Powell5 January 2016
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Academy Award winning actor Eddie Redmanye has revealed that he occasionally helps struggling actors to pay their rent.

Redmayne, 33, said he helps those wanting to go to drama school in London because the cost of living in the capital can be “impossibly expensive”.

Speaking to GQ – after topping their best dressed men’s list – he said: "The greatest privilege that I had was that my parents lived in London. So when I was out of university and out of work for a year, working in a pub, I didn't pay rent.

“And I get letters from people trying to go to drama school and needing to pay their rent. And so that's something I occasionally do. It's impossibly expensive to live in London."

GQ Best Dressed men

1/10

The Danish Girl actor – who achieved a History of Art degree from Cambridge and worked as a model before his career as a thespian took flight – previously spoke about the rate of unemployment among actors.

“It is an expensive trade,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “"The percentage of actors employed is pretty small, and if you're lucky enough to have a good run at it you do have a sense of responsibility."

Redmayne follows in the footsteps of Julie Walters and Dame Judi Dench who revealed they frequently receive letters from those needing help on financing drama school.

Dench told the Observer: “Anyone who’s in the theatre gets letters countless times a week asking for help to get through drama school. You can do so much, but you can’t do an endless thing. It is very expensive.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in