--- description: Eddie Redmayne paid tribute to Stephen Hawking, who died Wednesday. Redmayne played Hawking in The Theory of Everything. title: Actor Eddie Redmayne Pens Emotional Tribute to Stephen Hawking image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28231ed3ac23b51b/69892ac2096a946bed6a1d2b/eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'We Have Lost a Truly Beautiful Mind.' Actor Eddie Redmayne Pens Emotional Tribute to Stephen Hawking  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Mar 14, 2018 12:05 PM CUT  Professor Stephen Hawking and Eddie Redmayne attend the UK Premiere of "The Theory Of Everything." Professor Stephen Hawking and Eddie Redmayne attend the UK Premiere of "The Theory Of Everything."Karwai Tang—WireImage  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Mar 14, 2018 12:05 PM CUT Actor Eddie Redmayne, who played renowned physicist Stephen Hawking in 2014’s _The Theory of Everything,_ offered [a touching tribute](http://time.com/5198766/stephen-hawking-death-tributes/ "undefined") to the late scientist, [who died Wednesday at age 76](http://time.com/5198751/stephen-hawking-physicist-obituary/ "undefined"). “We have lost a truly beautiful mind, an astonishing scientist and the funniest man I have ever had the pleasure to meet,” Redmayne said [in a statement provided to _Deadline_](http://deadline.com/2018/03/the-theory-of-everything-eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking-1202337648/ "undefined"). “My love and thoughts are with his extraordinary family.” Redmayne met Hawking just five days before he began shooting his Oscar-winning portrayal of the legendary physicist and bestselling author, who was diagnosed with ALS at age 21, but still went on to become one of the world’s best-known and most beloved scientific minds while battling the neurodegenerative disease for more than 50 years. Hawking later praised Redmayne’s turn in the film. “Well done Eddie,” [Hawking wrote on Facebook after Redmayne’s 2015 Oscar win](http://time.com/3719584/eddie-redmayne-best-actor-oscar-stephen-hawking/ "undefined"). “I’m very proud of you.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5198979/eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5198979/eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking/"},"headline":"'We Have Lost a Truly Beautiful Mind.' Actor Eddie Redmayne Pens Emotional Tribute to Stephen Hawking","datePublished":"2018-03-14T12:05:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:38:45.734Z","description":"He played Hawking in \"The Theory of Everything\"","url":"https://time.com/5198979/eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking/","keywords":["remembrance","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28231ed3ac23b51b/69892ac2096a946bed6a1d2b/eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28231ed3ac23b51b/69892ac2096a946bed6a1d2b/eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"The Theory Of Everything\" - UK Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals","caption":"\"The Theory Of Everything\" - UK Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals","creditText":"Karwai Tang—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5198979/eddie-redmayne-stephen-hawking/","name":"'We Have Lost a Truly Beautiful Mind.' Actor Eddie Redmayne Pens Emotional Tribute to Stephen Hawking"}}]}] ```