Eddie Redmayne: My caveman role gave me ‘weird body issues’

Eddie Redmayne has told how voicing a caveman in his latest film gave the Hollywood star “weird body issues”.

The Oscar-winning actor, 36, voices hero Dug, in Early Man, a prehistoric-era adventure about inept cavemen from animation studio Aardman, the makers of Wallace And Gromit.

The big-screen comedy also features Tom Hiddleston as the villainous Lord Nooth and Game Of Thrones actress Maisie Williams as Goona, a “gallant and indomitable rebel”.

Speaking at the film’s world premiere, Redmayne told the Press Association how he channelled his inner caveman.

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“We went to the Aardman studios in Bristol and they have a whole section there with big, massive caveman suits,” the actor said.

“Maisie and I got dressed up as cave people with huge spears and started fighting it out. That’s how I got into character. I was quite up for it. You’ve got to feel comfortable in your attire.”

But he said that signing up for a voice role was perhaps a little too liberating.

“It’s weirdly a lot more freeing because you don’t have the scrutiny of cameras and costumes and all those various things,” the British star said.

“So I kept finding myself, for days after recording, with weird body issues that came about from getting too physically into it. I wasn’t restrained by the sound booth.”

Redmayne was accompanied by his wife Hannah Bagshawe, who is expecting the couple’s second child, to the premiere, in London.

Meanwhile co-star Williams said her “straight-talking”, goals-orientated character, Goona, was a timely role model for young girls.

She said of actresses speaking out about mistreatment in Hollywood: “Women are standing up and finding their voices and I’m incredibly proud of everyone.

“It’s a great time to play a role like this, where even in our kids’ movies we are creating these characters who are driven and passionate and achieving their goals and it’s very reflective of what’s happening around us.”

Despite shooting to fame as Arya Stark in Game Of Thrones, Williams was star-struck on the green carpet.

“I’m freaking out because Rob Brydon’s behind me,” she admitted of the comedian.

Asked how a big-name TV actress could be star-struck, she said: “My mum says that to me all the time. She says, ‘People see you like that!’ But I don’t understand.

“I don’t live in this world very often. I go back home and try and live a normal life. I don’t spend a lot of time on red carpets, or green carpets!”, she said.

Early Man is in cinemas on Friday January 26.