First Photo Of Eddie Redmayne As A Trans Woman Lili Elbe In "The Danish Girl"
The first photo of Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne as transgender pioneer Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl has surfaced.
Adapted from novelist's David Ebershoff’s novel, the story is a fictionalized account of Lili Elbe, the real-life woman who was one of the world’s first known recipients of gender-reassignment surgery.
Born Einar Mogens Wegener in Denmark in 1882, she underwent a series of then-experimental operations in Berlin in 1930. An attempt to transplant a uterus resulted in organ failure, and Elbe's death, in 1931.
"The danger of surgery was so extreme then," Redmayne told the Daily Mail. "It’s such a brave thing that Einar did."
Related: Eddie Redmayne Plays First Person To Undergo Gender-Reassignment Surgery In “The Danish Girl”
Redmayne said he "observ[ed] the minutiae of feminine physicality" to play Elbe, and worked with movement director Alexandra Reynolds, who also helped him choreograph his movements as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.
The actor also spoke with members of the trans community to research the role, though ideas about sexuality and gender identity were in their infancy in the 1920s.
Les Miserables director Tom Hooper directs the film, which also stars Alicia Vikander as Wegener’s wife, Gerda.
“The Danish Girl is an extraordinary love story and a story about finding your true self,” Hooper said. “I first read [screenwriter Lucinda Coxon's] script when I was making The King’s Speech and I was so moved by this true story. I have wanted to make the film ever since.”
