Eddie Redmayne was so keen to perfect his latest role as an elite contract killer that he took weapons training from a former army sniper.
But the actor has confessed that he accidentally went a little too far with his preparations, smuggling a hidden – albeit fake – gun through an Eastern European police cordon.
In the upcoming Sky TV reboot of the Frederick Forsyth thriller The Day Of The Jackal, Redmayne plays an international assassin whose weapons include a “pretty staggering” gun that can be taken apart and hidden in a suitcase.
To prepare for the role, the 42-year-old had to learn how to effortlessly construct and deconstruct the weapon, so he took the realistic-looking prop to his hotel in Budapest, Hungary, to practice.
But on the way back he came across a student demonstration, forcing him to cross the police line with the fake rifle.
Eddie Redmayne as the elusive lone killer the Jackal in The Day Of The Jackal. The actor has revealed he smuggled a fake gun through a Hungarian police cordon
In the reboot of the Frederick Forsyth thriller, Redmayne plays the international assassin whose weapons include a “pretty staggering” gun that can be taken apart and hidden in a suitcase.
Redmayne as the Jackal. He recalled having to cross police lines with the gun in Budapest while a student demonstration was taking place
He recalled: ‘There was a big protest going on and there were hundreds of police officers so my car couldn’t get close. I had to get out and walk past the police with a suitcase that actually contained a sniper rifle.”
And he feared he would be discovered if any of the protesters recognized him.
‘They got excited and said, ‘It’s Eddie Redmayne! Can we take a selfie?” Then the police noticed and all the photographers stopped taking pictures of the protest and started photographing me instead. I was really shocked.’
Back at the hotel, he practiced with the gun for a while before going to dinner.
He told The Telegraph: ‘Then I realized, uh oh, I have to go back and take it apart because whoever comes in to do the turndown service would find this huge sniper rifle on the bed.’