Scheduled for release in later November, 'The Danish Girl', the big-screen adaptation of David Ebershoff’s classic novel, clearly has Uncle Oscar in mind.
With multiple award-winner Eddie Redmayne booked to play the lead role of transgender artist Lili Elbe and director Tom Hooper (the King's Speech) on board, it is an early frontrunner ahead of the 2016 awards season.
Set in Copenhagen in the 1920s, the film follows the love story of Einar (Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Swedish actress Alicia Vikander from 'A Royal Affair') as their marriage is turned upside down by Einar’s journey to become Lili Elbe – one of the first recipients of sexual reassignment surgery.
High expectations
The film follows swiftly on the heels of Redmayne’s Oscar-winning performance as Professor Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory Of Everything', and it is safe to say that the pressure is on the British actor to deliver the goods.
Complex roles, he told the Daily Telegraph, are the ones he has always dreamed of.
“If your dream is to tell stories, interesting stories, then play interesting people," he said.
"That’s the bottom line. The people that I play have to be extraordinary."
Searching for his inner female
In an interview with another English newspaper, the Daily Mail, Redmayne revealed he has been "observing the minutiae of feminine physicality", working closely with his 'Theory of Everything' movement director Alexandra Reynolds to prepare for the role.
“We’re looking at everything from a feminine perspective,” he explained. “[The relationship between] Wegener and his wife Gerda is a study of authenticity, identity and love. I think it’s the most sensitive role I have played.”
The film is due for release in the US on November 27 this year and is expected to be among the favourites ahead of the awards season in January and February 2016 – providing it's any good, of course.
