Fantastic Beasts actor Eddie Redmayne says winning an Oscar hasn't changed the way he picks his projects

Los Angeles: Eddie Redmayne is having a successful run in Hollywood, but there are days when he wonders if he will get employed again. The Oscar-winning actor says he still remembers all the rejections that he faced and that is what keeps him grounded.

Eddie Redmayne. Facebook

"You never forget the rejections. You never forget the years of being told no. It is quite deeply in us. It is why lot of actors are neurotic and nervous," Redmayne told IANS while promoting his film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald here.

"I remember reading an interview of Rachel Weisz saying that she never believes that she will be employed again. That time I was a young and struggling actor, and I was like 'You are Rachel Weisz. You are gonna be fine'. But now, even though in some ways, I have had a successful run, I still feel the same. I really do feel the same. My concern is that I hope people enjoy this film and I hope I get to make another one of these films. That is what keeps you working hard," added the actor on a candid note.

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Do you also wonder whether you will be employed again? "Yes, frequently," said Redmayne, who grew up in London and worked as a waiter at a pub before pursuing his dream to become an actor. "The worst job was being a waiter at the British Soap Awards. There were many actors. I was about 21 and I had to take empty glasses, and they had put many champagne glasses, and that thing just crashed, and I was laughed at. And I was like 'Maybe I will try to be an actor one day'."

He walked into the industry with a career-breaking role in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 2002, but got his ticket to the filmy world with his role in My Week with Marilyn back in 2011. He showed off his acting and singing skills in Les Miserables in 2012, and since then, his career trajectory has been growing upwards. But it was his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, which took him to the next level. He won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG for his heartrending performance. Next came The Danish Girl which also made noise at the Oscars, and Redmayne earned applauds from all quarters for bringing forward the complexities of a man going through identity crisis with conviction.

Redmayne, 36, says winning an Oscar has not changed his way of picking a project. "What is interesting is that when you are starting out, you get a script with details that this director is making this film with this actor. This is where it starts and you are there for this part. But sometimes, which is more complicated, is that when you are the first person to be sent the script and you have to decide kind of by yourself whether the film will be good or not, rather than having people lean on, like the talent involved." But the truth of the matter, as Redmayne puts, is that there is only one rule or process through which he picks a role. "And that is by instinct and gut feeling," he says.

At the moment, he is basking in glory for his role as magizoologist Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second in the planned five movies spin-off franchise from the Harry Potter films, released in India on 16 November. The Warner Bros Pictures project released in India in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.