Despite being a very real, prevalent, and wildly misunderstood aspect of many people’s lives, gender dysphoria is still a grossly misrepresented issue within popular culture and mainstream storytelling.
It’s really only in the past few years with a string of high profile people (Caitlyn Jenner, Laura Jane Grace) coming out as trans* or deciding to embark on gender transition that its visibility has risen.
Though the argument can always be made that the role, rightly, could have – and probably should have – gone to a trans* actor, there’s still no denying the fact that Eddie Redmayne carries a certain introspective grace that allows him, perhaps more than most other working actors, to approach a role such as the one in The Danish Girl with the kind of respect and reverence that it demands.
And in the first full-length trailer for the film, that is absolutely on full display.
Based on the 2000 David Ebershoff novel of the same name, The Danish Girl focuses on the true-life story of Lili Elbe, one of the first known recipients of gender reassignment surgery.
Directed by Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) from a script penned by noted playwright Lucinda Coxon, the film also stars Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, and Amber Heard.
The world premiere is scheduled for the Venice Film Festival later this week, before it opens in cinemas from late November.
