After 2011″s “Bullhead” earned a Best Foreign Language Academy Award nomination, Matthias Schoenaerts could have become a James Bond villain and called it a day. Instead, the muscle-laden Belgian actor has challenged type-casting by sticking to promising films and name costars. Schoenaerts” next project is destined for an awards frenzy: He”s set to join current Best Actor contender Eddie Redmayne in “The Danish Girl.”
Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper follows up “Les Misérables” with the culled-from-real-life story, dramatizing the life of Danish painter Einar Wegener, who became one of the first men to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Lucinda Coxon (“Crimson Peak”) wrote “The Danish Girl,” based on a novel by David Ebershoff. Redmayne signed on to play Wegener last April.
Deadline”s original report is unclear about who Schoenaerts will play in “The Danish Girl,” though his mere inclusion bumps up the film”s prestiguous cast, which includes Alicia Vikander (“Anna Karenina”) and Amber Heard (“The Rum Diary”). And he”ll have a solid year before “The Danish Girl” hits theaters, next appearing in Thomas Vinterberg”s “Far from the Madding Crowd” and the thriller “Close Protection” opposite Diane Kruger.
That all said, I still wouldn”t mind seeing Matthias Schoenaerts in a Bond movie.