[2][3] His mother, Patricia (née Burke), runs a relocation business, and his father, Richard Redmayne, is a businessman in corporate finance.

[12][13] He received a choral scholarship to attend Cambridge,[14] where he read History of Art at Trinity College, specialising in Venetian architecture and surrealism,[15] and graduated with 2:1 Honours in 2003.

[19] Redmayne made his professional stage debut as Viola in Twelfth Night, for Shakespeare's Globe at the Middle Temple Hall in 2002.

[22] Reviewing a revival of the play in 2017, critic Heather Neill recollected the "gut-wrenching intensity of Eddie Redmayne’s award-winning performance at the Almeida in 2004".

[25] In 2009, Redmayne appeared in John Logan's new play Red at the Donmar Warehouse in London,[26] for which he won the 2010 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Reviewing the show during this London run, longstanding New York Times critic Ben Brantley described Redmayne as "a star in the making".

[27] He reprised his role in Red at the John Golden Theatre on Broadway, in a 15-week run from 11 March to 27 June 2010,[28] and won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.

[30][31] Matt Wolf, London theatre critic for The New York Times International Edition, described Redmayne as "tearing into the title role with an open-faced splendor that redefines the very discussion of soul that assumes such prominence in Shakespeare’s luxuriantly beautiful text"[32] In November 2021, he returned to the stage as Emcee in a West End revival of Cabaret at the Playhouse Theatre, remodelled as the 'Kit Kat Club'.

[33] The revival drew rave reviews,[34][35] with critic John Lahr stating that the 'scintillating show' also offered the 'rousing spectacle of the next generation's theatrical talent on the ascendant.'

[38] In April 2024, the production transferred to the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, where he reprised the role of the Emcee opposite Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles.

[42] David Chater, who served as a correspondent in many conflict-ridden areas, described his performance as a WWI soldier in Birdsong as "mesmerising", "astonishing", "so little is visible on the surface and yet a whole universe of emotions is simmering away behind those limpid eyes.

"[52][53] Dr Katie Sidle, a consultant neurologist specialising in the field of motor neurone disease (MND), stated in an interview in the British Medical Journal, "Eddie’s performance in the film was utterly remarkable .

"[57] Writing in Vanity Fair in 2018, Laura Bradley remarked that "the idea that this film would have been improved by Redmayne playing his part in a more conventional (read: boring) manner is absurd.

"[58] In 2022, Joe Hoeffner echoing her thoughts, felt that with a more "normal villain", "the rest of the film would be flatter, less colorful, less deliriously camp...no matter what happens you can’t take your eyes off of the spacefaring Oedipus with the voice of a chainsmoker.

[61] That same year, Redmayne starred in the biographical drama The Danish Girl, directed by Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper.

[62] Nonetheless, Redmayne's performance garnered critical acclaim; in January 2016, he earned his second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor in consecutive years.

Leah Greenblatt at Entertainment Weekly wrote, "an eerie, pitch-perfect Redmayne, wearing Charlie's nice-guy drag like a battering ram, lets his mask slip so incrementally that the final scenes feel like a true terrifying rupture.

"[70] Aurora Amidon at Paste remarked, "Redmayne plays Charles with such a sense of naturalism and magnetic intensity that it’s easy to forget he’s not in the room right there with you.

[75] Joel Golby, writing for the Guardian commended Redmayne for playing his "chameleonic and ice-cold" character, and for conveying a lot while having little dialogue; adding that "it’s as if he’s secretly uncovered a new way of acting".

[84] Sir Elton John and David Furnish described him as "the stylish intersection where Cary Grant's style meets Fred Astaire's lithe elegance.