Eddie Redmayne is no stranger to playing real people on-screen. In 2015, he won an Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, and starred as activist Tom Hayden in Aaron Sorkin’s 2020 film The Trial of the Chicago 7. But speaking to host Krista Smith in a new episode of the podcast Skip Intro, Redmayne admits that playing Charles Cullen in The Good Nurse challenged him in a way he never thought possible. 

Directed by Tobias Lindholm, The Good Nurse centers around Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain), a single mom whose punishing shifts as an ICU nurse are barely paying the bills. She’s at her wits’ end when she befriends Charles, a new nurse on the ward who seems like a godsend. Calm, efficient and easy to talk to, Charles becomes a big part of Amy’s life ––until the death of a patient sparks an investigation that seems to point to him as the culprit. As more and more sinister details come to light, Amy risks it all to uncover the truth. 

The script was written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, based off of the 2013 book of the same name by Charles Graeber. In 2006, Cullen was convicted for the murder of 29 people while working as a nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, though he told police he had as many as 40 victims. He is believed to be one of America’s most prolific serial killers, although his story remains largely unknown –– until now. 

“It was actually a story I knew nothing about,” Redmayne says, adding that he pored through Wilson-Cairns’ script and Graeber’s book for elements to incorporate into his performance. “One of the things I found most useful in relation to the physicality element was that Charles Graeber describes, having spent a lot of time with the real Charlie Cullen, how he had the shape of a question mark.”

“Over the years, I’ve played quite a few real people, and each film demands something different,” he adds. “But the one thing that remains constant is: it’s never a documentary, it’s never [a] facsimile. Each script presents a different way of approaching it. [For this one] you had this Bible that was the book, extraordinary firsthand accounts, [and] court documents.”

On this project, Redmayne also had the benefit of meeting a real-life eyewitness to Cullen’s crimes: Amy Loughren, the fellow nurse and friend played by Chastain in the film, and who was also involved in the production. He spoke to her at length, latching onto any detail she could provide.

“This person was this weird hybrid of being translucent and skinless and vulnerable, whilst also being a total closed book,” he adds. “Anonymity was his tool and he got great power and a kick off being sort of anonymous. So, it was how you make a character present whilst also being anonymous. That was the conflict for me.”

Still, the real challenge, Redmayne says, was accepting that he might have to play Cullen without really ever knowing or understanding him or what he did. “That was the challenge: If you can’t answer why, is it enough as an actor to take on a character where you’re not going to be able to find the answers? Does that make sense? Is the process enough? 

Ultimately though, the answer was yes. “That was one of the things I enjoyed the most about it,” Redmayne says, adding: “The Good Nurse shook me up a bit in a good way.”

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