Eddie Redmayne has said he wouldn’t play a trans character onscreen if such a part was offered to him today. The Oscar winner, speaking in an interview to The Sunday Times, expressed regret over his choice to take the role of pioneering trans woman Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl, which netted him both critical acclaim and widespread reproval. “No, I wouldn’t take it on now,” he said of the role when asked by the Times. “I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake.”

The Danish Girl drew criticism from members of the LGBTQ+ community upon its release in 2015, with many saying the role should have been played by a trans actor. Redmayne had previously defended his choice to take on the part. That year, while acknowledging that “there has been years of cisgender success on the back of trans stories,” he said that “one should be able to play any sort of part if one plays it with a sense of integrity and responsibility.” Speaking to the Times over the weekend, the actor changed tack when asked about whether The Danish Girl would have been made without his star power: “The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don’t have a chair at the table. There must be a leveling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.”