Eddie Redmayne Divides Tony Awards Viewers With ‘Terrifying’ Performance

Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne blew up the internet during Sunday’s Tony Awards broadcast.Redmayne performed as the Emcee from the iconic musical Cabaret, which he is starring in on Broadway.He gave what some termed as a terrifying performance of the song “Willkommen” at the awards where he rocked a cone hat, neck scarf and wide leather knee-length shorts.Redmayne spent a good deal of the performance hunched over and giving odd facial expressions and body movements.Newsweek contacted Redmayne’s representatives by email for comment.As people watched the awards, which honor the best of Broadway, they were divided about Redmayne’s showing.”It couldn’t be that bad, i thought. Then Eddie Redmayne started dancing. No thoughts, only movements that belong in an Exorcist movie,” wrote @alybee44389051 on X, formerly Twitter.”Eddie Redmayne worst actor of a generation,” added former reporter Laurence Barber.And @teqymudo added, “Are you kidding me? Eddie Redmayne’s Cabaret performance was supposed to be a dramatic rendition of the classic musical, not some kind of terrifying demon summoning. I mean, I get that he’s an actor who likes to take risks, but this is ridiculous!”But others loved Redmayne’s take.”eddie redmayne is undeniably an underrated talented individual,” wrote @t6inity on X.”OMG! Eddie Redmayne is an incredible talent. I was lucky to hear him switch accents in person and talk about how he does it. He’s a brilliant individual with massive talent,” commented @northcomet.And @LaurissaStJohn wrote: “Eddie Redmayne was unreal, I’m gobsmacked. Such a cool performance.”Redmayne is starring in the Broadway production of Cabaret after it moved to New York from the West End in London, where he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for the role.The British actor won the Best Actor Oscar in 2015 for playing physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.Some of the big winners at the Tonys this year included Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, who bagged his first Tony for his role in the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along.Glee star Jonathan Groff also won his first Tony for his work in the same show.They weren’t the only first-time winners on the night, with Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie winning her first Tony for producing The Outsiders. It was named best musical and won three other awards from 12 nominations.Succession’s Jeremy Strong won his first Tony for best actor in a play for his role in An Enemy of the People.