Eddie Redmayne defends claims The Danish Girl made ‘trans rights mainstream’
The actor has been accused of belittling the work done by thousands of trans activists.
Eddie Redmayne faced a barrage of criticism earlier this week, after the BBC shared a comment he made about trans rights during this year’s Baftas – where he was nominated for Best Actor for his role in The Danish Girl.
After losing out to Leonardo DiCaprio, the beeb claimed the star told them that “it’s extraordinary how trans issues have come into the mainstream media since we made Danish Girl.”
In the full interview with the broadcaster, Redmayne also speaks about how fortunate he was to have so many trans women involved, who he says were “incredibly generous” in educating him when he was preparing for the role.
He adds that although its been 100 years since Elbe’s story, he believes that there is still a long way to go for trans rights – and that hopefully the film “helps encourage” the conversation.
However, it seems few users bothered to read the full piece – opting to judge the actor on just one comment alone.
“Someone tell Eddie Redmayne that trans women existed for some time before The Danish Girl and can speak for themselves better than he can,” wrote one user.
“Also, since I did The Theory of Everything, I’ve noticed that quite a lot of buildings have ramps now,” quipped another.
Redmayne has since defended his comments, saying he hoped that they had not been misunderstood.
“I hope what I said was not misunderstood. In the four years since I started work on The Danish Girl, trans stories, lives and issues have burst into the mainstream media with people like Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Mya Taylor, Rebecca Root, Jake Graf, Caitlyn Jenner and the countless others pushing the needle forward and making history on their own terms,” he told BuzzFeed News.
“As I’ve said before, it has been an honour to be part of this conversation in some small way by sharing Lili and Gerda’s story.
“There is still a long way to go, and allies of the trans community (including me) need to continue our support.”
