Matrix director Lana Wachowski helped Eddie Redmayne prep for trans Danish Girl role
Eddie Redmayne has credited Matrix co-director Lana Wachowski with helping him prepare for his role as a trans woman.
The actor plays pioneering trans woman Lili Elbe in upcoming film The Danish Girl – which charts the artist’s realisation that she is female.
Speaking to Cinema Blend, Redmayne admitted he was “pretty ignorant” of trans issues before the role.
He credited his Jupiter Ascending director Lana Wachowski, who came out as trans publicly in 2012, with helping him prep for the role.
He said: “I was actually making a film with Lana Wachowski, and she pointed me… when I talked to her about Gerda and Lili’s relationship, she knew about their art and their work and their life together.
“She basically told me where to start reading, and where to start educating myself.”
He previously explained: “I met many people from the community and they could not have been more generous. Every single woman I spoke to — pretty much across the board — would start the conversation by going, ‘There is no question I’m not willing to answer’.
“The need for cisgender people to be educated on trans issues, to be allies to the trans community, feels so urgent.
“The generosity was kind of overwhelming for me. As an actor, of course, you play parts and you do films, but the bigger thing is life experience, and I feel really privileged in having played Lili and for meeting such brilliant people.”
Wachowski, who was ‘outed’ as trans by tabloids over a decade ago, spoke about her transition openly in 2012.
