Alicia Vikander says ‘The Danish Girl’ “already feels extremely outdated” in transgender representation
Alicia Vikander has said she feels her Oscar-winning role in the 2015 film The Danish Girl “already feels extremely outdated” in terms of its representation of transgender people.
The Swedish actor starred opposite Eddie Redmayne as the wife of Lili Elbe, one of the first trans women in history to receive gender-affirming surgery. Although it received a lot of accolades at the time of its release, The Danish Girl has attracted a lot of criticism for not featuring any trans actors in the cast.
Explaining the context of her own father being a psychiatrist who advises patients seeking gender-affirming surgeries, Vikander stated: “I’m the first one to say it already feels extremely dated, which I think is a good thing.”
Despite this, the actor was keen to stress that she felt telling the story of The Danish Girl was vital during the time period in which it was released: “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 those themes,” she added.
Aside from the controversy that ensued, the role undeniably rocketed Vikander’s status in the Hollywood scene, after she won the Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ in 2016, taking home the only prize out of the film’s four nominations in total that year.
Further reflecting on the newfound acclaim that this afforded her, Vikander said, “It went so fast. I didn’t have any time to reflect on what’s happening. It was a moment that probably took me years to understand, of realising how a public persona of you is created, one I too looked at and wondered, ‘Who’s that?’”
Vikander is set to make her West End debut in London in the play The Lady From the Sea by Henrik Ibsen, which opens on September 10th.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.