Eddie Redmayne Talks Playing Transgender Female in 'The Danish Girl'

Eddie Redmayne takes the cover of Out magazine’s September 2015 issue, on newsstands August 18.

Here’s what the 33-year-old Oscar winning actor had to share with the mag:

On feelings of masculinity vs femininity: “I suppose it depends on what you think of as masculine and feminine. I was musical, and I was into theater and arts, but I was also into sports, so I had quite a broad spectrum. I can also totally see that other people see a femininity in me.”

On receiving advice from the trans community on his role in The Danish Girl: “People were so kind and generous with their experience, but also so open. Virtually all of the trans men and women I met would say ‘Ask me anything.’ They know that need for cisgender people to be educated. I felt like, I’m being given this extraordinary experience of being able to play this women, but with that comes this responsibility of not only educating myself but hopefully using that to educate [an audience]. Gosh, it’s delicate. And complicated.

What the role of Lili Elbe has taught him about gender: “That it’s fluid, I suppose. And also that it needn’t be labeled. My greatest ignorance when I started was that gender and sexuality were related. And that’s one of the key things I want to hammer home to the world: You can be gay or straight, trans man or woman, and those two things are not necessarily aligned.”

On Caitlyn Jenner: “I absolutely salute her courage. Hers is a very specific story, and it’s one that shouldn’t stand for everybody’s. But it is amazing what she’s gone through and how she’s done it. It’s a civil rights movement.”

For more from Eddie, visit Out.com.