Eddie Redmayne Plays Transgender Woman Lili Elbe in the Trailer for The Danish Girl

Posted on September 2, 2015

Eddie Redmayne is breathtaking in the first trailer for The Danish Girl. Redmayne, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, plays Lili Elbe, a transgender woman who was one of the first people ever to have gender reassignment surgery.

Lili Elbe was born as a man named Einar Wegener. He was married to Gerda Gottlieb (Alicia Vikander) a renowned painter. Gottlieb encouraged her husband to dress as a woman and had him model for her paintings. They went out in public with Einar dressed as a woman. Eventually Lili understood she had always felt she was a woman and changed her name.

She underwent four surgeries which were groundbreaking at the time. But the doctors did not understand about transplant rejection and Lili died after her fourth operation after her body rejected an ovary implanted in her. She thought the surgery would maker her able to bear a child. This film is based on a novel written by David Ebershoff in 2000.

The film also stars Amber Heard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw and Emerald Fennell. Directed by Tom Hooper, The Danish Girl will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. It will be released on November 27th. The film has Oscar potential written all over it, although there has been criticism from the transgender community that Eddie Redmayne is playing the role instead of an actual transgender actress. Take a look: