Stephen Hawking’s First Wife Tells What “The Theory of Everything” Got Wrong

Jane Hawking, who was portrayed by Felicity Jones in the 2014 film, was married to the physicist until 1992.

Stephen Hawking and Jane Hawking In Paris - On March 03th, 1989,In Paris,France. Jane Hawking recently spoke about inaccuracies in the film "The Theory of Everything." (Photo by Gilles BASSIGNAC/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Stephen Hawking and Jane Hawking In Paris - On March 03th, 1989,In Paris,France. Jane Hawking recently spoke about inaccuracies in the film "The Theory of Everything." (Photo by Gilles BASSIGNAC/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Jane Hawking recently extended her criticisms of the 2014 biopic The Theory of Everything, claiming that the film glossed over important parts of her marriage to the late Stephen Hawking. At the Henley literary festival, Jane Hawking told the crowd that the movie included several inaccuracies in the interest of keeping the running time short. Hawking’s memoir Traveling to Infinity was one of the source materials for the movie, which won Eddie Redmayne a Best Actor Oscar.

Jane Hawking’s objections chiefly concern the film’s ignoring of the logistical difficulties her family faced. Particularly while traveling, Jane Hawking’s responsibilities caring for her husband and her children were immense. “I’m sorry to say that none of these extensive travels — with all the organizing, packing for a family with a severely disabled member, transporting them, driving them, as well as the usual day-to-day care — really appears in The Theory of Everything,” she said. 

When The Theory of Everything debuted in 2014, Hawking expressed some of her criticisms but also called it “a beautiful film.” But at the festival recently, she said, “I knew if there were mistakes in the film that they were going to be immortalized, which they have been.”

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