Alicia Vikander says The Danish Girl ‘already feels extremely dated’ for its trans representation
Despite its awards-season success, The Danish Girl was widely criticised for casting cisgender actor Eddie Redmayne as Lili
By Callum Wells
Alicia Vikander has reflected on her role in The Danish Girl, admitting the Oscar-winning film “already feels extremely dated”.
The 2015 biopic tells a heavily fictionalised version of the story of Lili Elbe, a Danish artist believed to be among the first trans women to undergo gender-affirming surgery in the 1920s. Directed by Tom Hooper, the film was nominated for four Academy Awards, with Vikander winning best supporting actress for her portrayal of Elbe’s wife, Gerda Wegener.
Speaking to British Vogue, Vikander has now said: “I’m the first to say [The Danish Girl] already feels extremely dated, which I think is a good thing.
Damaging real-world consequences
“At that time, it was a pivot in something that it made [the subject of transgender lives] at least discussed. I hope that in a way it was a bit of an eye-opener and opened the way for art to cover these themes.”
Despite its awards-season success, The Danish Girl was widely criticised for casting cisgender actor Eddie Redmayne as Lili. Many viewers argued that his performance reduced trans womanhood to stereotype. In a 2015 op-ed for IndieWire, trans critic Carol Grant wrote: “Instead of approximating a single individual, [Redmayne is] approximating femininity itself… As Lili, he performs womanhood by way of stereotype.”
As actress Jen Richards explained in Netflix’s 2020 documentary Disclosure, the decision to cast cis men in trans women’s roles can have damaging real-world consequences.
“Although I made The Danish Girl with the best intentions… I think it was a mistake” – Eddie Redmayne on playing Lili Elbe
“In my mind, part of the reason that men end up killing trans women out of fear that other men will think they’re gay for having been with trans women, is that the friends – the men whose judgment they fear – only know trans women from media, and the people who are playing trans women are the men that they know,” Richards said. “This doesn’t happen when a trans woman plays a trans woman.”
Redmayne himself has since distanced from the role. Speaking to The Sunday Times in 2021, he reflected: “Although I made The Danish Girl with the best intentions… I think it was a mistake.
“The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don’t have a chair at the table. There must be a levelling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.”