Remember when Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron were going to play a couple in a movie about the world’s first post-op male-to-female transsexual? Well, it’s still half true. While Charlize has dropped out, Nicole is pushing ahead as star and producer of The Danish Girl. The project has added director Tomas Alfredson, the man behind last year’s acclaimed Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In. The Danish Girl is based on a book by the same name about Danish painter Einar Wegener (played by Nicole), who in 1931 became the first person to go through a successful sex-change operation to become a woman, Lili Elbe. Charlize was originally slated to play Einar/Lili’s wife Gerda Wegener, but has since left the production. They married when Einar was 22 and Gerda 17. Gerda was an accomplished Danish artist who frequently used Lili as the subject in her work. Her paintings and illustrations of beautiful women often featured lesbian overtones and erotic imagery. (Some NSFW examples here.)
With Charlize is no longer attached to the role, I’d love to see another equally talented actress take over. Off the top of my head Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Uma Thurman and Radha Mitchell could all pull of Danish and married to a the world’s first MTF transsexual with ease. I mean, Kate and Nicole already make a great-looking couple. Director Alfredson told Daily Variety, “We have been in talks for close to a year, and we are soon going into production.” IMDB.com has the film slated for a 2010 release.
So, who would you like to see cast alongside Nicole as Gerda? And how exciting is it to have such a progressive love story make it to the big screen with such a big name behind it?
