The first trailer for transgender drama The Danish Girl has been released online.
In The Danish Girl, Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) plays Lili Elbe (born Einar Wegener), a turn-of-the-century painter who became one of the first documented recipients of gender reassignment surgery in the 1920s. Elbe reportedly underwent five transition-related surgeries, considered groundbreaking and experimental at the time, over a period of two years.
The artist reportedly died in 1931 at the age of 48 from transplant rejection after attempts to transplant a womb failed.
The Danish Girl hits theaters as big- and small-screen portrayals of the LGBT community continue to gather critical acclaim: Tangerine, a film about two transgender prostitute friends on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles, was a breakout hit at this year’s Sundance film festival, while television has seen several high-profile reality shows about transgender people, including Caitlyn Jenner’s I Am Cait series and 14-year-old Jazz Jennings’ I Am Jazz.
The Danish Girl is directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables) off of a script by Lucinda Coxon. The film is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by David Ebershoff. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Amber Heard (The Rum Diary) and Ben Whishaw (Skyfall) co-star.
The film hits theaters November 27.