Eddie Redmayne now says starring in The Danish Girl was "a mistake"
Redmayne says the 2015 movie was made with "the best intentions," though
Eddie Redmayne is getting ready to star in a new production of Cabaret, and as part of his publicity tour for the gig, he sat down with The Sunday Times and addressed the longstanding controversy over his decision to play real-life transgender artist Lili Elbe in the 2015 movie The Danish Girl. The role got him an Oscar nomination, but criticisms of the casting (and of The Danish Girl in general) have made a more lasting impact than the movie itself.
Now, Redmayne flat-out says that it “was a mistake” for him to have played Elbe in the film. He says that, although The Danish Girl was made “with the best intentions,” he wouldn’t take on the role now. He believes that decisions like him starring in that movie happen “because many people don’t have a chair at the table” and that “there must be a leveling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.”