Eddie Redmayne famously stuck it to me by winning best actor last year for playing Stephen Hawking in a role that, according to acting legend, may have permanently altered his spine. Just in time for awards season, Redmayne will be back in The Danish Girl, from The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper. The film is set to hit the festival circuit this fall (Toronto, Venice) before hitting theaters November 27th.
Redmayne plays artist Lili Elbe, who in the 1920s became the first person to undergo gender-reassignment surgery. The film had apparently been in the works for nearly a decade, with Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, and Marion Cotillard all attached to play Elbe at various stages. But clearly none of those options would’ve been as awards-buzzy as having Eddie Redmayne play Elbe. My sources tell me Redmayne got so into character that he may have permanently pouted his lips.
You have to love Eddie Redmayne. Does he even take a role if it doesn’t offer an ostentatious transformation? “What’s this character’s name? Pete? And he’s not even, like, a flamboyant space prince or anything? Nope, sorry, not interested.”
I’m not convinced Eddie Redmayne is our best actor, but he’s almost certainly our most actory actor.