Eddie Redmayne regrets role as a transgender character: 'It was a mistake'

Eddie Redmayne earned an Oscar nomination for playing a transgender character in The Danish Girl, but he now believes doing so was "a mistake."

The actor reflected on the 2015 film, in which he stars as one of the first known people to undergo gender reassignment surgery, in an interview with The Sunday Times, revealing he would not take the role again today, per Variety.

"I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake," he said.

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Redmayne's casting in the film drew criticism at the time from those who argued the role should have gone to a trans actor. In 2015, Redmayne told IndieWire this was an "incredibly important discussion" to have and that he hoped there comes a "day when there are more trans actors and trans actresses playing trans parts, but also cisgender parts." He earned an Oscar nomination for his performance, the second of his career after he won Best Actor for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

"The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don't have a chair at the table," Redmayne told The Sunday Times. "There must be a leveling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates."

Alicia Vikander starred opposite Redmayne in The Danish Girl and won an Oscar for her performance, and she said in August "I totally understand the criticism" of the movie. The comments come after Halle Berry in 2020 dropped out of a project in which she would have played a transgender man after facing backlash.

"As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories," Berry said. "I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and I will continue to listen, educate, and learn from this mistake."