Redmayne says transgender role he took on was ‘a mistake’
EDDIE REDMAYNE has admitted that taking a transgender role was a “mistake” and he would not do it now, following criticism over the casting.
Redmayne was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of landscape artist Lili Elbe, who underwent the world’s first gender reassignment surgery, in the 2015 film The Danish Girl.
The casting attracted criticism from campaigners who suggested a transgender actor should have been chosen.
Despite previously defending his taking of the part, Redmayne has spoken of regret. “No, I wouldn’t take it on now,” he told the Sunday Times Culture magazine. “I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake.”
Director Tom Hooper said at the time that his “instinct was always Eddie” for the role, because “there was something in him that was drawn to the feminine”.
But Redmayne said: “The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don’t have a chair at the table.”
Paris Lees, prominent trans activist, criticised Redmayne’s casting in 2015, saying: “What right does Eddie Redmayne have playing a transgender woman?” In 2015, Redmayne told The Telegraph: “I find myself occasionally making mistakes but when you meet trans men and women you realise how upsetting that is, because they were born a gender and it just happened to not be this one that they were assigned. And I hope that, in some ways, our film continues the discussion, because us learning to be allies to the trans community is so important.”
Last year, the actor criticised JK Rowling over a tweet in which she made light of an opinion piece that discussed “people who menstruate”.