By Linda Ge
Fresh off his first Oscar win for The Theory of Everything, Eddie Redmayne is going from playing a scientific genius to a social pioneer for his next role.
The first official photo has been released from The Danish Girl, and shows Redmayne as Einar Wegener, a Danish-born artist who was one of the first known people to undergo sex-reassignment surgery. Born male, she underwent a series of experimental surgeries in Germany, beginning in 1930.
Wegener became Lili Elbe (above) after her transition
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“I haven’t worked since The Theory of Everything, so it’s been really good to get the muscles exercised again,” Redmayne told The Wrap of working on the film before last Sunday’s Oscar ceremony.
Redmayne accepting his Oscar on Feb. 22
Tom Hooper is directing the film, which features Redmayne’s artist character, one of the first people to undergo operations to become a women. It’s based on the book of the same name by David Ebershoff. Alicia Vikander plays Wegener’s wife, Greta, who becomes an overnight artistic sensation for her paintings of Einar in women’s clothing, and who ultimately stands by Wegener through the changes in her life.
[Yahoo editor’s note: This post has been updated.]
Photo credit: Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, @Wikipedia
