Having previously collaborated with great success on Les Miserables in 2012, director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and actor Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn) are set to reunite for the dramatic film adaptation of The Danish Girl.
The source novel, ‘The Danish Girl’, was published in 2000 and written by David Ebershoff. It imaginatively embellishes the story of real life painter, Einar Wegener who, in 1930, became one of the first men to undergo what were then highly experimental gender reassignment surgeries. The tale focuses on Wegener and his wife Gerda, and the responses of those around them to their changing lives. Once the transition process began, Wegener’s name was legally changed to Lili Elbe, and she chose to never paint again.
The adaptation appears to have been in development for a while – previously with Nicole Kidman’s production company, with a view to her taking the lead role of Wegener/Elbe in 2011. The role of Gerda Wegener went through many casting changes – including Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rachel Weisz – before the project fell quiet for unknown reasons. It has now re-surfaced on the roster of Working Title, with Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner producing alongside Tom Hooper. The adapted screenplay they will be working from was penned by Lucinda Coxon (Wild Target), although it is unclear whether this is the same version that was under development with Kidman.
While the novel is known to explore the attitudes of their contemporaries towards Wegener/Elbe and Gerda, the film adaptation of The Danish Girl is described as being the love story between the two. This being the case, the casting of Gerda is all-important and – having seen the actresses that already exited the Kidman version – we eagerly await the announcement of who will now fill that role for Working Title.