Eddie Redmayne sometimes secretly pays for students’ rent

Maybe he was preparing himself for a role in some kind of Robin Hood drama. Maybe he felt guilty for getting a student shop worker sacked for taking a selfie with him back in November. Eddie Redmayne is giving back in a big way by paying out for drama student’s rent.

Apparently wannabe actors are contacting The Theory of Everything star and asking for advice, complaining they can’t afford to live in London any more Not only does he respond to his fan mail, he also sends money to pay for their rent too. Eddie revealed his secret charitable ways in an interview with GQ this month.

“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. Having parents who lived in London gave me the greatest privilege.”

We all know living in the capital is expensive, but Lamda’s £39 application fee and  £31 interview charge every time you apply certainly don’t help either. Eddie famously didn’t go to drama school, and worked as a waiter after graduating from Cambridge while looking for acting work.

In the same interview Eddie confessed that much like the secret Eton gang sign or memories of the dubstep society, he still consults his old Etonian drama teacher, especially he “could use some feedback when I’m preparing for a role”.

Last November, Eddie accidentally got a student sacked from his part time job at All Saints after he posed for a photo with the shop worker. Little did he know it’s actually against staff policy for staff to interact too much with any celebrity who happens to walk in.

Omar Balde told The Tab: “He was really nice and friendly so I asked if we could take a photo. The next day my manager fired me because of their celebrity policy. From what I heard we can’t disturb famous people while they are shopping.

“It was basically just me complimenting him and we talked a little about his new film which is a Harry Potter spin-off. I was shocked, I didn’t think I could be fired for that.”