The first trailer for the highly anticipated drama The Danish Girl was just released. Eddie Redmayne stars as Einar Wegener, or Lili Elbe, the first person to attempt male to female sex reassignment surgery.
Redmayne is fresh off his first ever Oscar nomination and subsequent win, and it looks as if he’s headed there again. Biopics are typical Oscar material, and the current conversation about transgender rights certainly won’t harm the picture’s chances. Watch the trailer for The Danish Girl below:
The film has been in development for quite a long time (in 2008 Charlize Theron dropped out of the role of Gerda Wegener), which normally isn’t a good sign, but when Tom Hooper became attached as director last year, things started moving rather quickly.
On his decision to cast Redmayne as Lili Elbe, Hooper told Screendaily:
“I was a great believer in him as an actor. I think also there’s a certain gender fluidity that I sensed in him, that I found intriguing and it led me to think he might be a really interesting person to cast in this role.”
The trailer focuses on the marriage between Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander), which becomes seriously affected by the struggles of the title character. Vikander has had quite a year, starring in the critically well received Ex Machina, as well as in the recently released Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) previously directed Redmayne in Les Misérables and the TV mini-series Elisabeth I. Amber Heard (Zombieland, Magic Mike XXL), Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone, Far From the Madding Crowd) and Ben Whishaw (Paddington, Skyfall) also star. The film will have its U.S. release on November 27 but will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week.
Eddie Redmayne is currently filming the Harry Potter spin-off (or prequel, according to J.K. Rowling), Fantastic Beasts, but he will probably get some time off to promote The Danish Girl.
An exciting and solid cast, a critically acclaimed director, and a fall release — What more do you need, Oscar?