While at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I landed an extended video interview with Oscar-winning The Danish Girl director Tom Hooper. Adapted from David Ebershoff‘s novel of the same name, The Danish Girl focuses on the relationship between Einer Wegener (Eddie Redmayne), later Lili Elebe, one of the first men to undergo a sex reassignment surgery and her wife Greta (Alicia Vikander), whose marriage and relationship evolves as they navigate Lili’s journey as a transgender pioneer. Scripted by Lucinda Coxon, the film also stars Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts and opens in limited release on November 27th before expanding to more theaters throughout December. For more on the film, read Matt’s review and check out Adam’s thoughts on its Oscar chances.
During the interview, Hooper talked about if he felt any pressure following up Les Miserables and The Kings Speech, the experience of making a film about transgender issues when the subject is so timely, when he first realized Redmayne and Vikander would deliver such tremendous performances, deleted scenes, how his first cut compared to the finished film, if he’s conscious of making “awards” films and whether he want to break out of that, future projects, and so much more. If you’re a fan of this gifted director I’m sure you’ll enjoy what he had to say.
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Tom Hooper:
- How does he deal with the pressure to follow up the success of Les Miserablesand The Kings Speech?
- When did he realize that Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander would deliver such tremendous performances?
- How long was the first cut compared to the final version?
- Talks about getting to keep different cuts of the film with digital editing.
- Were there any scenes that were especially hard to see on the cutting room floor?
- Does he plan on releasing deleted scenes on the Blu-ray?
- How does he decide what scripts he wants to take on next?
- Talks about making a film about transgender issues when the subject is so relevant and such a part of the zeitgeist.
- What is he reading now, and what is he planning to do next?
- Is he conscious of making “award” films and does he want to break out of that?
- Film vs. Digital: What did he use for The Danish Girl and what does he prefer?
