Eddie Redmayne Drew Inspiration From Transgender Community For Years Before Performing In ‘The Danish Girl’
Eddie Redmayne is an Oscar winner, but now he will be a father, which will undoubtedly be the biggest role of his entire life. Daily Mail reports that Redmayne and his wife, Hannah Bagshawe, are expecting their first child sometime in June. This news comes as the couple recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary and Eddie Redmayne is inundated with nominations for his new movie The Danish Girl.
How does Eddie Redmayne keep it all together as his fame and celebrity status grow? In an interview with People, Redmayne attributes it to the saint in his life – his wife.
“I think saint might be the word. She is an absolute saint. And it’s a ride for both of us. It’s wonderful doing it with someone you love because you also have a second eye on it all. This whole industry is the most joyous, absurd circus. It’s great to have someone when you get too immersed in it or drinking the Kool-Aid to say, ‘Wait a second?'”
Merry Christmas indeed! Eddie Redmayne and his wife are expecting a child! https://t.co/JYO5PC8odX pic.twitter.com/wKgjx2j833
— POPSUGAR (@POPSUGAR) December 25, 2015
As for his marriage to Bagshawe, Eddie Redmayne says the wedding they had in December 2014 was wonderful.
“It was the most wonderful thing. We had Christmas off and so we had a Christmas wedding. It had been a few months of traveling promoting the Theory of Everything. It was a small wedding, but it was wonderful.”
What about Eddie Redmayne’s new movie, The Danish Girl? People reports that he learned a lot from the transgender community. Apparently, Redmayne was given the script for the movie back in 2012, so he has had a long time to prepare for the role.
“The lovely thing was I had years to prep. When you know it’s coming up, you organize your life to give the best.”
#Transgender in the 1920’s: The amazing story of the real @danishgirlmov #LiliElbe @people https://t.co/Ei9FRJqYk3 pic.twitter.com/YaA6F7EkEJ
— Laureen (@laureenm01) January 3, 2016
One transgender friend gave Eddie Redmayne perhaps the best advice of all when preparing for the movie by speaking about her own transition.
“She told me that when she was transitioning, she would have given everything and anything to live her life authentically.”
An elderly transgender woman from England told Eddie Redmayne how to manage his voice.
“April Ashley, an elder trans woman in England said, when I was talking to her about my voice, ‘Don’t go up in pitch. Find the femininity in your own voice.'”
As for what Eddie Redmayne learned specifically about his character, real life Lili Elbe, he realized that she was born Lili, was always Lili, and was forced by society to be a male.
“This idea that Lili was born Lili. Society and her notion of what was right in that period meant she had a forced masculinity. [When she first began to transition], there was almost an affectation to her femininity. Some of the trans women I spoke to talked about this phase of hyper-feminization, when you’re wearing too much makeup or clothes that are too feminine.”
As for how it felt to play the role of a transgender, Pink News reports that Eddie Redmayne felt vulnerable.
“It leaves you feeling very exposed and vulnerable. The set itself felt very safe when I would be walking around as Lili but there was still this sense of people watching you and feeling judged. Imagine what it must be like for trans women who are constantly facing such judgment as well as discrimination and violence in many cases.”
The Danish Girl has been a smash hit. See the trailer here to understand the intensity of the movie.
And check out this Fox 5 interview of Eddie Redmayne for his take on his role.
As for Eddie Redmayne’s performance, he already has a Golden Globe nomination and is set to receive an Oscar nomination one year out from his big win as Best Actor in 2015.
[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
