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Eddie Redmayne to star in sex change drama

Les Miserables director Tom Hooper will be helming The Danish Girl

Jess Denham
Tuesday 29 April 2014 09:03 BST
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Eddie Redmayne will play Danish painter Einar Wegener in a movie adaptation of The Danish Girl
Eddie Redmayne will play Danish painter Einar Wegener in a movie adaptation of The Danish Girl (Getty Images)

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Eddie Redmayne is set to star as the first man to undergo a sex change in a new drama from Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper.

The British actor, 32, will play Danish painter Einar Wegener in a movie adaptation of the 2011 novel The Danish Girl, reports Deadline.

David Ebershoff’s book follows the fictional life of Wegener (later to become a woman, Lili Elbe, in 1930) and his wife Gerda Gottlieb.

Lucinda Coxon has written the script, which Hooper first read while he was making The King's Speech with Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

"I was so moved by this true story, I have wanted to make the film ever since," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "The Danish Girl is an extraordinary love story and a story about finding your true self."

The forthcoming film will see Redmayne re-join Hooper two years after the pair collaborated on international success, Les Miserables. Hooper will also co-produce the Working Title project.

Past actors to be rumoured for a part include Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel Weisz and Charlize Theron.

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