Eddie Izzard, the celebrated comedian and actor who identifies as a trans woman, reports that most people she encounters in her daily life are “positive” and “accepting” of her. Having first come out as trans in the mid-80s, Eddie – or Suzy, as she also prefers to be called – has spent nearly 40 years battling societal norms and prejudices.
Now, Eddie is stepping into her first leading trans role in Hammer’s horror Doctor Jekyll. While societal acceptance of LGBTQ+ issues has improved since the 80s, Eddie admits there are still challenges. She notes that while the world is generally more accepting, the extreme right is not. Instead, they’re instigating culture wars.
But Eddie remains optimistic. The majority of individuals she meets embody a “live and let live” mentality, recognizing her identity as an authentic expression of her inner self. She argues that this acceptance positively impacts mental health and societal wellbeing at large. In contrast to right-wing efforts to pit women’s rights against trans rights, Eddie firmly believes that both women’s rights and trans rights are human rights.
Apart from her performance career and extreme sports endeavors, Eddie is also politically active. She’s currently campaigning to be Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion after an unsuccessful bid for Sheffield Central last year. Even in the political arena, she maintains that most people are supportive. She acknowledges some individuals harbor hate or transphobia but views them as a minority amidst an overall positive shift in public sentiment.
Eddie’s latest project reflects this evolution in societal attitudes towards trans issues. At 61 years old, she stars in a reinterpretation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde where Dr Jekyll is a trans woman. Directed by Joe Stephenson and featuring open-gender casting – both men and women were considered for the part – Eddie sees her role as scientist Nina Jekyll as an exciting acting challenge where her character’s trans identity is merely incidental.
As Eddie sees it, we’re now living in an era where lazy stereotyping should be a thing of the past. She emphasizes that LGBTQ characters shouldn’t be defined by their queerness, arguing that they too are living lives and are real people. The movie Doctor Jekyll is now in cinemas, providing a platform for such nuanced representation.