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First look: Eddie Redmayne to play trans character in 'The Danish Girl'

In the upcoming film "The Danish Girl" Redmayne will be playing Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery in history.
Eddie Redmayne, in a still from the film \"The Danish Girl.\"
Eddie Redmayne, in a still from the film \"The Danish Girl.\"

Actor Eddie Redmayne is following his Oscar-winning "Theory of Everything" role with another transformational performance.

In the upcoming film "The Danish Girl" Redmayne will be playing Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery in history. She was born in Denmark under the name Einar Modens Wegener and had several, at the time, experimental surgeries in the early 1930s.

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Redmayne won the Best Actor Academy Award this month for portraying theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and his debilitating battle with ALS.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "The Danish Girl" will focus on "the love story between Wegener and his wife, Gerda Gottlieb, as he makes his pioneering journey to become a woman in the 1920s."

The film will be directed by Tom Hooper, who won as Oscar himself for "The King's Speech" and made "Les Miserables," which co-starred Redmayne. 

"We’re looking at everything from a feminine perspective," the actor told The Daily Mail about his performance in "The Danish Girl." "I think it’s the most sensitive role I have played."