Eddie Redmayne was highly criticised for taking on the role of a trans woman (Picture: Courtesy Eve/REX/Shutterstock)
Eddie Redmayne has revealed how he acted upon criticism following his role in 2015 film the Danish Girl.
The actor, 41, portrayed transgender Lili Elbe, a Danish painter and one of the earliest recipients of gender-affirming surgery in 1930.
Telling the story of the artist, The Danish Girl was a biographical romance drama, exploring Elbe’s unmasking of her gender identity and how she began living as her true self.
Eddie received a Bafta nomination for his performance, and co-star Alicia Vikander won an Oscar. However, the film was met with a great deal of criticism, given that Eddie is a cisgender man, playing the role of a trans woman.
It was (and still is) widely argued that the role should’ve been given to a trans actor, given that LGBTQ+ actors often struggle to get a foot in the door.
Having later acknowledged the backlash, Eddie has now revealed that he went to workshops with trans actors, who quizzed him on his decision to take the part in the first place.
The actor played artist Lili Elbe, as the film showed how she explored her gender identity (Picture: Courtesy Eve/REX/Shutterstock)
As a cisgender man, film critics and the trans community were highly critical of Eddie taking the part (Picture: Courtesy Eve/REX/Shutterstock)
Speaking to The Guardian, Eddie said: ‘A few years ago, I did a workshop with trans actors at the Central School of Speech and Drama. A lot of them were quite rightly interrogating me about my choice to do The Danish Girl, and pointing out that many trans actors don’t go to drama school because they don’t see it as an opportunity.
‘Unless there are parts that you think are possible for you to play, why would you?
‘I believe everyone wants to be able to play everything. That’s what we dream of as actors, and should do.
‘No one wants to be limited by their gender or sexuality but, historically, these communities haven’t had a seat at the table. Until there’s a levelling, there are certain parts I wouldn’t play.’
The star has now revealed he did a workshop with trans actors after the film (Picture: Todd Williamson/NBC/NBC via Getty Images)
Eddie has spoken about the criticism of his casting before, previously agreeing that it was an ‘important discussion’ to have.
He told IndieWire following the movie’s release: ‘I think it’s an incredibly important discussion. And I think it’s also representative of a lot of discrimination against trans people in the work place generally.
‘I think there has been years of cisgender success on the back of trans stories.’
Later down the line, he voiced his support for the trans community by standing against JK Rowling after she grew defensive over the phrase ‘people who menstruate’ and was accused of transphobia.
In a statement released to Variety, Eddie responded: ‘As someone who has worked with both J.K. Rowling and members of the trans community…
Eddie agreed it’s an ‘important’ conversation to have (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for SOLT)
‘I wanted to make it absolutely clear where I stand. I disagree with Jo’s comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid.’
On the subject of cis actors playing trans roles, Laverne Cox’s Netflix documentary, Disclosure, previously highlighted why it was an issue, linking it to violence against the community.
‘Having cis men play trans women, in my mind, is a direct link to the violence against trans women. In my mind, part of the reason men end up killing trans women out of fear that other men will think that they’re gay, having been with trans women, is that the men whose judgement they fear only know trans women from media, and the people who are playing trans women are the men that they know,’ explained actress Jen Richards.
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‘This doesn’t happen when a trans woman plays a trans woman. When I’m playing a trans character, I don’t have to play the transness of it.
‘When someone like Eddie Redmayne who, admittedly, might give a really great performance, plays a trans woman… what’s remarkable about his performance is the transness, the way he’s been able to manifest those feminine parts of himself into a convincing trans performance, but it reduces that person to a performance of transness, rather than as a whole person.’
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It’s widely argued that cisgender actors shouldn’t play trans roles.
