Stephen Hawking: Theory of Everything star Eddie Redmayne pays tribute

The actor won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the famed scientist

Eddie Redmayne has paid tribute to Stephen Hawking, who has died aged 76.

"We have lost a truly beautiful mind, an astonishing scientist and the funniest man I have ever had the pleasure to meet," the actor said. "My love and thoughts are with his extraordinary family."

Redmayne depicted the famed scientist in James Marsh's 2015 film The Theory of Everything, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.

Though he spent six months poring over every piece of interview footage he could find, Redmayne only met Hawking five days before filming was set to commence. A meeting that so racked him with nerves, that he confessed he started reeling off facts about Hawking's own life, even pointing out they were both Capricorns. Hawking responded simply: "I’m an astronomer, not an astrologer.’

Marsh, however, added that Hawking so impressed by the film and Redmayne's performance that he not only gave his blessing, but offered to lend his own voice. "The voice you hear in the latter part of the story is, in fact, Stephen's actual electronic voice as he uses it", he told Deadline.

Hawking's family released a statement in the early hours of Wednesday morning confirming he'd passed away in his home in Cambridge, including words from his children - Lucy, Robert, and Tim - which read: "He once said: ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him forever."

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