Eddie Redmayne: “Today I wouldn’t do The Danish Girl again”

That role earned him an Oscar nomination, but today Eddie Redmayne would no longer accept it. The British actor who touched on the statuette in 2016 for playing transgender artist Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl today he considers “a mistake” to have made that film, agreeing, after many years, with those who had contested the production at the time for not having chosen, as the protagonist, a transgender actress. “It wasn’t my turn,” he says today The Times the 39-year-old actor, who the year before had won the Oscar for The theory of everything, “I played that role with the best of intentions, but accepting it was a mistake. The great debate on casting that has opened is linked to the fact that even today too many people are actually excluded from decisions, there should be more equality in this sense, otherwise we will continue to discuss these topics all the time “.

The Danish Girl, which is based on the novel The Dane by David Ebershoff, told the story of Lili Elbe, born Einar Wegener, who was one of the first people in the world to undergo an operation to become a woman also biologically. The decision to call Eddie Redmayne to play the role was highly contested and even the co-star, Alicia Wikander who won the Oscar for having given the face to Einar’s wife, Gerda, a few months ago she agreed with the critics: “We need a change,” the actress told Insider, «We need to make sure that transgender men and women are able to find a place in the sector. And the change will only be complete when trans actors play cisgender characters. “

Eddi Redmayne (right) and Alicia Wikander in a scene from The Danish Girl

The Newt Scamander of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in the past he had already made clear his ideas on the subject, distancing himself from the writer’s transphobic tweets JK Rowling: «Jo’s attacks on social media are exaggerated and disgusting, but I don’t agree with what she says. I have many trans friends who are faced with discrimination, violence and abuse on a daily basis and who are tired of having to constantly explain and having to defend themselves from everything “, said the actor speaking on the blog of Trevor Project, a non-profit association focused precisely on suicide prevention among LGBTQ + youth.

“I don’t want and can’t speak for the community but I know trans people just want to live their life in peace. Trans women are women, just as trans men are men. Any statement to the contrary erases their identity and dignity, violating any advice given by doctors and professionals from non-profit associations, who certainly know more about the subject than I and Jo ».

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