Eddie Redmayne prepares for another life-changing role in Tom Hooper's historical biopic 'The Danish Girl', in which he plays Lili Elbe - one of the first people to have ever undergone gender reassignment surgery, way back in the 1880s.



Eddie Redmayne dons a wig and lipstick for his most 'sensitive' role

If his career-defining role as physics genius Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory Of Everything' wasn't enough, the recent Oscar winner is setting the bar even higher with what could arguably his most challenging role yet. He will be teaming up with movement coach Alexandra Reynolds once again to get in touch with his feminine side, and he even told the Daily Mail, 'I think it's the most sensitive role I have played.'

More: Read our review of 'The Theory Of Everything'

He goes on to express his admiration about the life of the painter who decided to undergo the transition to female - then named Einar Wegener. 'The danger of surgery was so extreme then. It's such a brave thing that Einar did', he said.

Redmayne follows in the footsteps of Jared Leto, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2013 true story drama 'Dallas Buyers Club'. And then there's Jeffrey Tambor, who recently took on the role of a father making his transition to womanhood late in life in the Golden Globe winning Amazon Prime TV series 'Transparent'. It certainly marks a much needed change from the solely comedy side of cross-dressing, as appropriated in such films as 'White Chicks', 'Hairspray' and 'Mrs. Doubtfire'.

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Of course, there will be those who'll contest the casting of Redmayne over someone with life experience in the subject matter, with the fact that there are very few famously transgender actors out there, save for the likes of 'Orange Is The New Black' star Laverne Cox.

'The Danish Girl' will hit cinemas in 2016.