Eddie Redmayne Has Admitted ‘It Was A Mistake’ Playing A Trans Woman In The Danish Girl

British actor Eddie Redmayne has finally admitted that it was “a mistake” playing a trans woman in the critically acclaimed, but very controversial, drama film, The Danish Girl.

In the 2015 biopic, the star portrayed real life trans woman Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo gender confirmation surgery. Despite receiving a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Elbe, he has faced a lot of criticism over the role. Rightfully so, if ya ask me.

Now, in a new interview with The Sunday Times, Redmayne has expressed regret over taking the role.

“No, I wouldn’t take it on now. I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake,” Redmayne told the mag. “The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don’t have a chair at the table. There must be a levelling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.”

Redmayne previously insisted that he treated the role respectfully by meeting with people from the trans community prior to taking the part.

“People were so kind and generous with their experience, but also so open,” he told OUT magazine in 2015.

“Virtually all of the trans men and women I met would say, ‘Ask me anything.’ They know that need for cisgender people to be educated.”

“I felt like, I’m being given this extraordinary experience of being able to play this woman, but with that comes this responsibility of not only educating myself but hopefully using that to educate [an audience]. Gosh, it’s delicate. And complicated,” he concluded.

Eddie Redmayne went on to tell Sunday Times that his current role as The Emcee in Cabaret, a drag role, is very different to his role in The Danish Girl.

“Of all the characters I’ve ever read, this one defies pigeonholing,” he said. “I would ask people to come and see it before casting judgment.”

Hopefully this sends a message to other actors that they should not be nabbing roles from members of marginalised communities. There are plenty of extremely talented trans actors who would’ve NAILED that part.

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