The Good Nurse: Eddie Redmayne says playing a serial killer was ‘delicious’ after Fantastic Beasts

Redmayne said he’d found it hard to ‘retain intimacy’ in the fantasy franchise

Eddie Redmayne has admitted he relished the opportunity to play a murderer in The Good Nurse after starring in Fantastic Beasts.

The British actor and Jessica Chastain are receiving rave reviews for their roles in the new Netflix serial killer drama.

Based on a true story, The Good Nurse follows Charles Cullen (Redmayne), a nurse who murders dozens – perhaps even hundreds – of patients over the course of a 16-year period. Chastain plays Cullen’s colleague who helped get him arrested, Amy Loughren.

It’s quite a turn for Redmayne who has long played the affable, harebrained wizard Newt Scamander in JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts saga, which culminated in The Secrets of Dumbledore this year.

In a new interview with The Los Angeles Times, Redmayne said he relished the opportunity to portray a darker character off the back of the family film series.

“I love making those huge symphonic films,” he said of the Harry Potter spin-offs.

“I love that company of actors – it’s old-school filmmaking of scale. But because of the nature of them, retaining intimacy is hard.”

Eddie Redmayne as Charlie Cullen and Jessica Chastain as Amy Loughren in ‘The Good Nurse' (JoJo Whilden / Netflix )

In contrast, The Good Nurse allowed Redmayne to “mine scenes for everything that they’re worth to try every possible alternative”, he explained.

“That was wonderful. It was delicious. It was what I was dreaming of.”

After the film’s release on Netflix in October, viewers have shared their shock on social media after learning of the morbid true story behind the movie.

You can read about the true story that inspired the film here.

The Good Nurse is on Netflix now.