Just. Stop.

[Content Note: Appropriation; transmisogyny; disablism.]

Fresh off his Oscar nomination for playing a man with a disability, Eddie Redmayne will next play a trans woman:

Eddie Redmayne is the toast of Hollywood thanks to his acclaimed portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything – and the British actor will be taking on another challenging role in his next project. Eddie has revealed he will play the first transgender woman ever to have gender reassignment surgery in the upcoming film, The Danish Girl.

The 33-year-old actor spoke to E! News about the movie, which will be a "semi-fictionalised" look at the life of Danish painter Einar Wegener, who later became Lili Elbe after becoming the first man to have sexual reassignment surgery in 1931.

No, the movie will be a "semi-fictionalized" (gross) look at the life of LILI ELBE. It's not enough that another cis man has been hired to play another trans woman, but the movie itself is being pitched as the story of a man who "became" a woman.

And, naturally, it gets worse from there:

He is approaching the role with the same intensity with which he researched playing Stephen, who was diagnosed with ALS in his early 20s.

"There are many people who have written Ph.D's on Lili's story," Eddie said. "Even though it is period and under completely different circumstances than today, I'm meeting many women from the trans community and hearing their experiences."

How neat! Are any of them actors, by any chance? Do any of them know any trans women who are actors? Are all of them thanking you for being so brave, the absolute bravest, for being the latest in a long line of cis men who claim to be amplifying trans women's voices by usurping them, and to be telling their stories by appropriating them?

He continued, "I have put on dresses and wigs and make-up. I'm beginning to embark on that and trying to find out who she is."

Oh my fucking god.

Listen, straight white able-bodied cis male actors: I get that you want to play "challenging" characters (and the fact that you consider the lives of marginalized people "challenging" is a whole other post), and I get that you win awards by playing People Who Overcome, and there aren't a lot of stories about straight white able-bodied cis men who overcome, because of the general lack of hurdles, and boo hiss boring stories about straight white able-bodied cis men who are working-class union organizers in fading steel towns in grody places like Illindianohiowa where they dig in the dirt growing soybeans for your no-whip lattes, but life is hard, what can I tell you.

If you want to play a truly radical role, how about this: The role of a real-life millionaire man who walked away from an industry that paid him handsomely to exploit people without his privileges.

Too brave?

In conclusion: A spike through my head!

[H/T to Eastsidekate.]