Tom Hooper’s biographical drama “The Danish Girl” turns 10 years old this fall, and its Oscar-winning star Alicia Vikander says it “already feels extremely dated.” Inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, the film stars Eddie Redmayne as a transgender artist who was one of the early recipients of gender reassignment surgery. The actor earned an Oscar nomination, while Vikander won best supporting actress. Despite the awards attention, the film garnered backlash for casting cis actor Redmayne as a trans pioneer.
“I’m the first one to say it already feels extremely dated, which I think is a good thing,” Vikander told British Vogue. “At that time, it was a pivot in something that it made [the subject of transgender lives] at least discussed. I hope that in a way it was a bit of an eye-opener and opened the way for art to cover those themes.”
Redmayne expressed his regret over accepting the role of Lili Elbe several years after the movie’s release, telling The Sunday Times: “No, I wouldn’t take it on now. I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake…The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don’t have a chair at the table. There must be a leveling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.”
Vikander told Insider shortly before Redmayne went public with his regret that she understood the backlash against “The Danish Girl.” While she maintained that her co-star gave a “wonderful” performance,” she also called the movie “a learning experience” when it comes to casting.
“I totally understand the criticism that has been out there, because we need to make change and we need to make sure that trans men and women actually get a foot in and get work,” Vikander said at the time. “My only concern is that we may need to get to a point in the end where we have trans women and men playing cis characters. Because that is the main thing, you know?”
Redmayne tried to get ahead of the backlash when the movie opened in theaters in November 2015. He told IndieWire that “many trans people worked on the film,” adding: “I hope there’s a day when there are more trans actors and trans actresses playing trans parts, but also cisgender parts. And I hope — as an actor one hopes — that one should be able to play any sort of part if one plays it with a sense of integrity and responsibility.”
Head over to British Vogue’s website to read Vikander’s interview in its entirety.
