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The first image of Eddie Redmayne as a transgender woman in his film “The Danish Girl” has surfaced via Daily Mail.
The character, artist Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe, was one of the first people ever to undergo sexual reassignment surgery.
Set in the 1920s, the real-life film is a love story about Wegener, a painter, who was persuaded by his artist wife Gerda Waud (Alicia Vikander) to pose for her in women’s clothes after one of her models failed to show. Over time, he became Lili and started on the transformation into a woman.
Redmayne told Daily Mail he’d been “observing the minutiae of feminine physicality” and had been working with his “Theory of Everything” movement director Alexandra Reynolds.
“We’re looking at everything from a feminine perspective,” he said, describing the film as a study of “authenticity, identity and love”.
“I think it’s the most sensitive role I have played. The danger of surgery was so extreme then,’ Redmayne said. ‘It’s such a brave thing that Einar did.”
“Les Mis” director Tom Hooper helms from a script Lucinda Coxon adapted from David Ebershoff 2001 novel.
So, with the film likely to be released in 2016, could Oscar winner Redmayne follow in Jared Leto’s footsteps and win another Academy Award for playing a transgender character?
