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Paltrow replaces Charlize Theron in the story of the first person to undergo sex-reassignment surgery to become a woman
Gwyneth & Nicole
Gwyneth Paltrow to play Nicole Kidman's wife in sex-change movie
Gwyneth Paltrow is to play Nicole Kidman's wife in a film adaptation of The Danish Girl, David Ebershoff's novel about the life of painter Einar Wegener, the first person to undergo sex-reassignment surgery to become a woman, changing his name to Lili Elbe in 1930.
Paltrow replaces the original casting of Charlize Theron as Wegener's wife, Gerda, who was also a successful painter and illustrator. In September, Tomas Alfredson, who made the 2008 vampire drama Let the Right One In, was named as director, but he has now been replaced by London-based Anand Tucker, best known for Hilary and Jackie, the 1998 biopic about cellist Jacqueline du Pre, and 2005's Shopgirl.
Last week, Kidman, also the film's producer, said: "In the end I hope my life will be a mix of extreme love and bold artistic choices. I've never wanted to be safe. I've never chosen safe relationships. And I've never chosen safe films."
In 1930, Wegener went to Germany for surgery, which was only experimental at that time. A series of five operations were carried out over a period of two years, including removal of the testicles, removal of the penis, the transplantation of ovaries, and the transplantation of a uterus, intended to allow Elbe, then nearing 50, to become a mother. She died in 1931 of complications resulting from her fifth surgery.
