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Eddie Redmayne's My London
thisislondon.co.uk
Actor Eddie Redmayne steals medieval socks, paces Islington's canals and worries about the Plague pits of World's End...
Where do you live?
In Borough, just behind Tate Modern, with two of my oldest mates, a banker and a head-hunter. I love the area; it's got a huge amount of colour.
What was the last play you saw?
Faust at the Young Vic by Vesturport, a group of Icelandic actors. It's physical and dynamic and unlike anything else you'll see on stage.
What advice would you give a tourist?
Start at The Courtauld Gallery then cross the river to Borough Market and taste everything on offer. It's the best free lunch. Then take the No 19 bus from Chelsea to Islington, past London's best sights.
Which shops do you rely on?
For books, John Sandoe's off the King's Road and the National Theatre bookshop for plays. For sheet music I go to Kensington Chimes Music and for drawing materials I go to Green & Stone on the King's Road. I sometimes indulge in an overpriced scarf at The Shop at Bluebird.
What's your favourite meal in London?
Ziani's, an Italian restaurant on Radnor Walk, does a dish called taglierini tartufate. I just have to inhale it and I'm a happier person.
What's your earliest London memory?
Being pushed in my pram by my mum across Albert Bridge when I was three. It was pouring with rain but I was so cosy and I remember looking up and seeing my mum's face drenched with rain.
What are your guilty pleasures?
I have a deep addiction to cheese and Marmite paninis from the Starbucks at Borough Tube.
What's your life philosophy?
'Take life step by step, pace by pace, slowly, slowly and leave the competition to others.' It's from a letter Chekhov wrote to his wife Olga Knipper.
What was the last album you bought?
Folk singer Johnny Flynn's album A Larum, which cheers me up massively.
What would you save from a fire?
My two prints by the Cornish artist Patrick Heron, which I bought with money from my first jobs.
What are you up to?
I've got a TV series, Pillars of the Earth, currently on Channel 4 and I'm filming My Week with Marilyn, a true story about an English boy who fell for Marilyn Monroe at Pinewood Studios in the 1950s.
Which is your favourite shopping street?
I love Camden Passage at the Angel for weird stalls and antiques. It has a great vibe.
What do you like wearing?
My big white towelling dressing gown. It was a Christmas present and I feel like I'm three years old again, back in the pram on Albert Bridge.
What's London's most romantic place?
The New River waterway walk from Stoke Newington to Islington.
Which is your favourite pub?
My local, The Gladstone, has live music. I saw Gemma Arterton's sister Hannah perform there. I have fond memories of working in The Builders Arms in Chelsea after uni.
What are your favourite London discoveries?
The Cast Court Collection's life-size cast of Michelangelo's David at the V&A; and the salmon and sweet dill tartine at Tartine on Draycott Avenue.
Tell me something I don't know about London...
There's no Tube station at World's End because they are too afraid to dig up a plague pit there. My dad may have made that up, though.
What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you?
I blanked on stage at the Royal Court. The other actors were trying to help but all I could hear was white noise. Gordon Brown was in the audience.
Have you ever stolen anything?
I fill my sock drawer with Elizabethan and medieval socks from whatever job I'm doing.
