Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch Are Oscars Texting Buddies

How did Eddie Redmayne discover he had received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything? “I’m currently staying in a hotel in Los Angeles and I was fast asleep,” says the Brit. “There was suddenly a rap on the door, I stumbled out of bed in my towel, and opened the door, and my manager was standing there brandishing a telephone, screaming down the phone. So I was hoping that was a good thing.”

Redmayne’s competition in the category includes his friend Benedict Cumberbatch, who is nominated for portraying Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. (Cumberbatch also played Hawking once, in the 2004 BBC film Hawking.)

“We haven’t spoken, but we have texted,” says Redmayne. “There was many an exclamation mark being used. We’ve come up together and Ben is a good friend, and such an amazing actor. Benedict is so extraordinary in Imitation Game. It is a genuine honor to be amongst that group of actors.”

And how will Redmayne be celebrating his nomination? “Gosh,” he says. “It is still like 6 or 7 in the morning. So, I’m wondering what point one is allowed to start drinking.”

This article originally appeared on EW.com.