Nicole Kidman looks to be continuing her habit of taking on brave and challenging (and potentially career-sabotaging) roles, as she has just signed on to star in The Danish Girl, a movie based on the true story of the world’s first post-op transsexual. Based on the book by David Ebershoff, the story offers a mostly true account of the life of Einar Wegener, a Danish artist who was born as a man and married his wife Gerda, before eventually undergoing an experimental procedure leading to the world’s first sex change. It was only after filling in for a female model whom Gerda was painting that Einar discovered her true calling.

Charlize Theron will co-star as Gerda, and the movie will be directed by Anand Tucker (Shopgirl) from a script by Lucinda Coxon (Wild Target). It sounds like the project will have a higher profile than 2005’s Transamerica, which earned Felicity Huffman an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. However, one would think that a movie like this may have limited commercial potential, unless it ends up getting Oscar buzz of its own. You can read more about the true story on Wikipedia under the second name that Einar adopted, Lili Elbe.

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