Eddie Redmayne wasted months training for discarded topless scene

Eddie Redmayne spent months training in preparation for a topless scene in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them which was eventually cut from the film.

The Theory of Everything actor plays wizard Newt Scamander in the Harry Potter spin-off series and in one scene in the script, Eddie discovered his character was supposed to appear topless with an impressive physique, so he got to work preparing for this moment to later discover his hard work was wasted because it never made it into the final movie.

"I had to flipping work out for seven months because there was a scene - which is tragically no longer in the film - in which JK (Rowling) was like, 'I want you to take off his tarp and see that he has been bitten and has all these war wounds and, even though he looks like this, is actually ripped,' he told The Sun newspaper.

"I got to that scene and thought, 'Oh great'... so I did months and months of training and now it's cut from the film, which is probably a better thing for the world," he joked.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling makes her screenwriting debut with the film, which she recently revealed would be the first in a five-film franchise during a fan event in London last week (ends16Oct16).

“We always knew it was going to be more than one movie,” she said. "I’ve now done the plotting properly, so we’re pretty sure it’s gonna be five movies.”

During the event, Eddie also revealed he felt "enormous pressure" to please the devoted Harry Potter fans and he got stage fright picking his character's wand at the start of filming.

"It's weird because you feel like a nine-year-old.... I felt like a kid experiencing the greatest moment of my life," he added.

The movie hits theatres on 18 November (16).