I haven’t paid much attention to Eddie Redmayne’s promotional hustle for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I even ignored these London premiere photos! I don’t dislike Eddie at all, I just find him sort of boring and noncontroversial. But there was a brief moment where he could have been controversial. There was a brief moment, back in early 2012, when Eddie could have been Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. She was reportedly really into him and… I believe he was quietly dating Hannah Bagshawe, who is currently his wife. Eddie and Taylor met while auditioning for Les Miserables. Eddie got the role of Marcus, and Taylor was briefly cast as Epinone. Only Les Mis producers dumped Taylor rather suddenly and then hired Samantha Barks for the role. There’s still a lot of mystery around that moment in Tay-Tay’s life – no one knows if she was really trying to make Eddie her boyfriend, and no one knows how and why she got kicked off of Les Mis. Well, thankfully, Andy Cohen asked Eddie all about that on Watch What Happens Live last night.

Did he or didn’t he? Eddie Redmayne has addressed the rumors he once dated Taylor Swift, and he’s denied them! But that’s not to say the British Fantastic Beasts star didn’t make sweet music with the country music pop princess. Chatting to Andy Cohen on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ on Wednesday, November 16, Redmayne was asked by a viewer about his alleged 2012 romance with Swift.

“I absolutely can put the rumors to rest,” he said, when questioned over the reports he romanced the star. “I never went out on a date with Taylor Swift. Although I met Taylor Swift…She auditioned for Les Miserables and she was amazing in the audition. We got to sing together, which was a big moment for me. But no we never went out. She was extraordinary.”

Redmayne played the dashing hero, Marius, in the film, and Swift was hoping to snag the role of his lover Epinone, a part Hayden Panettiere, Scarlett Johansson, Lea Michele and Lucy Hale, were all reportedly up for, but eventually went to Samantha Barks.

[From Us Weekly]

I’m including the video below. While I like that Andy Cohen was bitchy enough to press Eddie about it, Eddie’s comments were in desperate need of some follow-up questions. Questions like, “So, why didn’t Taylor get the part?” and “Did she really try to date you?” While Eddie is always super-professional and never one to publicly gossip about other people, you can see that he’s radiating discomfort over the Swift questions. There’s absolutely more to the story.

Photos courtesy of WENN.