'Do you think I'm pretty enough?': Eddie Redmayne reveals his fears about taking on the role of transgender artist Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl
Following his Oscar success with the Theory of Everything he's set to play another complex character in his next feature film.
And it seems that Eddie Redmayne is taking his role in The Danish Girl every-bit as seriously as he revealed his latest role made him question if he was 'pretty enough' to play the lead character.
Speaking about playing Lili Elbe, the 33-year-old actor revealed that while he was shooting scenes dressed as the transgendered artist, he felt uncomfortable with his own looks under the 'gaze' of the cast and crew.
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Emptathy to the extreme: Eddie Redmayne is taking his role in The Danish Girl so seriously that he revealed his latest role made him question if he was 'pretty enough' to play the lead character, Lili Elbe
In the film Eddie plays Lili Elbe, the first identifiable person to undergo gender reassignment surgery, and it appears that the actor's fastidious research had a real impact on the role.
Speaking to the New York Daily News about his experience during production, the actor revealed that his preparation for the character made him connect on an emotional and mental level with Lili.
'One of the most interesting things for me was my first day on the set as Lili Elbe and the gaze of the crew members — being looked at and being judged, it really made me nervous,' he explained.
Under their gaze: Speaking about playing Lili, the actor, 33, revealed that while he was shooting scenes as the transgendered artist, he felt uncomfortable with his own looks under the 'gaze' of the cast and crew
Explaining what had affected him in such a profound way, the Les Miserables star said that he had recalled the 'judgement' persecution that affected many of the trans women he had spoken to.
He said: 'Many of the trans women I met had described that feeling when they first went out of being judged, though of course for them it's coupled with the fear of violence.
'There's a moment in the film where Lili says, 'Do you think I'm pretty enough?,' and it was something that was sort of on my mind as well.'
'One of the most interesting things for me was my first day on the set as Lili Elbe and the gaze of the crew members — being looked at and being judged, it really made me nervous': A real connection to the character
Following in the ground-breaking footsteps of TV series Orange Is The New Black and Transparent, the film is set to shed a light on Lili's struggle in the early 20th Century to transition.
The real life Lili was a Danish transgender woman who was born as Einar Magnus Andreas Wegener.
An artist, she stopped painting after her reassignment surgery, severing all ties to her former identity as Einar.
Born in 1882, Lili underwent four operations beginning in 1930. She passed away in 1931 three months after her final surgery.
The Danish Girl is based on the book by David Ebershoff, in turn inspired by real life events.
Due to hit cinemas in January, The Dnish Girl reunites Eddie with Les Mis director Tom Hooper and sees the actor star alongside Alicia Vikander as Lili's wife Gertrude.
A trail-blazing story: Due to hit cinemas in January, The Dnish Girl reunites Eddie with Les Mis director Tom Hooper and sees the actor star alongside Alicia Vikander as Lili's wife Gertrude
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