The Toughest Scene I Wrote: On The Theory of Everything’s Broken Marriage

Over the next few weeks, Vulture will speak to the screenwriters behind 2014's most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack. Which pivotal sequences underwent the biggest transformations on their way from script to screen? Today we talked to writer Anthony McCarten about the late scene in The Theory of Everything where the physically handicapped physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and his loyal wife Jane (Felicity Jones) realize their marriage has come to an end. The scene is then excerpted below. In my entire writing career, I don't think I've ever scripted a scene that's done more heavy lifting with so much less going on in the page. And certainly, there were big dramatic rewards if this scene could be reduced down to its very essence.In this scene, very few words had to carry the freight of very big emotions, and that's an enormous challenge. »