On Friday, Nov. 14, the highly anticipated movie “The Theory of Everything,” depicting the early years of the renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, will be released in Washington, D.C. The film stars Eddie Redmayne — currently best know for his roles in “Les Miserables” and “Hick” — who takes on the challenging task of portraying Hawking during his years at Cambridge, where he falls in love with his first wife Jane, played by Felicity Jones. The film also shows Hawking being forced to come to terms with his developing ALS.

Last Thursday, Eddie Redmayne and screenwriter Anthony McCarten attended the D.C. premiere at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and gave some insight into the challenges they faced making the film, as well as some of the surprising revelations they encountered when researching Hawking, who was involved in the making of the film.

“It was the unknown,” said Redmayne on why he was drawn to this role. “I went to Cambridge University, where Stephen went, and had seen him on campus and heard his highly recognizable voice, but everything about this was a revelation. I had no idea about the story or even about ALS, the disease. Also, to have the opportunity to play someone that is as extraordinary in so many ways. Our dream as actors is to tell interesting stories, and when I read this I thought it was a great, complicated love story, so those were the elements that drew me to the role.”

Redmayne also commented on the significance of playing such a well-known and well-respected figure.

“It’s one thing to play someone who is a real person, it’s another thing to play someone who’s still living, so you feel that sense of responsibility because ultimately you know he’s going to see it. So the stakes felt very high,” he said.

“I was very excited to meet Stephen. But it was only a few days before we started filming, so it was also quite intimidating since by that point I’d already had to in some ways plot what I thought the trajectory of the performance would be,” Redmayne said. “So I was worried I’d meet him and it would undermine everything I’d already done or planned, and that I’d got it completely wrong. But fortunately he was very generous, and he had this flair, this mischief which I could then add into the performance.”

Redmayne also raved about the experience of working with Jones, who plays his love interest and future wife, Jane.

“The strength that Jane has — that’s really amazing work by Felicity,” he said.

McCarten emphasized the importance of this film being a romance story, with the screenplay being inspired by a memoir by Hawking’s now ex-wife Jane.

“I thought there was something in the love story between Stephen and Jane that had never been committed to cinema before,” McCarten said. “I thought if I could really combine that love story with the incredible work that Stephen had done as a scientist, plus his amazing courage to not be silenced by his disease, then we’d have something really special.”

A full arts feature featuring more in-depth interviews with both Redmayne and McCarten will be published this Friday in The Guide.