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Actors who took on gender-bending roles in film and TV

Brit Eddie Redmayne joins a long list of performers who challenged the male–female dichotomy

Actors who took on gender-bending roles in film and TV

When the trailer for the movie The Danish Girl was released in late August, we had to adjust our perception of British actor Eddie Redmayne. Coming off his Oscar Best Actor win for portraying theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, Eddie has made headlines again in the new Tom Hooper film as Einar Wegener, a Danish artist and a transgender woman who, in the 1920s, became the first person to undergo sex reassignment surgery to become Lili Elbe.

On the tail of Caitlyn Jenner’s bold request on the cover of Vanity Fair to “Call (her) Caitlyn,” Laverne Cox’s winning performance in the Netflix original comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black, and 9-year-old Shiloh Jolie-Pitt’s preference for suits and for being called John, we’re seeing a growing awareness of gender fluidity on screen and in pop culture. Here, we revisit notable characters in film and on television that pushed the boundaries of traditionally gendered roles.

Photos: EPA, Working Title Films

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