Eddie Redmayne is driven by fear.
The 32-year-old actor is always nervous when he takes on a role but when he was offered the part of transgender Lilli Elbe in Tom Hooper’s ‘The Danish Girl’, he mostly felt "privilege".
He said: "My initial reaction was one of great privilege.
"I feel that whenever I play a part, there’s an element of fear. It’s what drives you.
"But really the overwhelming thing was privilege and wanting to do her story justice."
As part of his research, Eddie spoke with his ‘Jupiter Ascending’ director Lana Wachowski who had lived as a man named Larry until 2002.
He said: "I mentioned Lilli and [her partner] Gerda’s story – and I think she owns art by Gerda of Lilli. ‘Man Into Woman’ [an early account of Lilli’s transition] was also incredibly important to her."
And the actor learned a lot working on the film.
He said: "There were many things that I was ignorant about. The idea that sexuality and gender are two different things was something I’d been ignorant enough to not really understand."
Eddie Redmayne driven by fear
