Eddie Izzard has disclosed the reason why she wouldn't play a straight female character.
The 62-year-old comedian is one of the most talented actors and stand-ups to emerge from the scene of the 1990s, winning two Primetime Emmys and a Tony Award.
Last year, the Yemen-born star - who identifies as gender fluid - revealed on social media that she uses she/her pronouns, and wants to go by the feminine name of Suzy. However, she remains Eddie Izzard in public.
"As people may now well know, I have added the name 'Suzy' to my names," she penned on X. "So going forward I am preferring Suzy but I don't mind Eddie. And I prefer she/her but I don't mind he/him. So no one can really get it wrong unless they call me Kenneth or Sabrina."
The comedian revealed in an interview with The Telegraph that she will do a solo performance of Hamlet, which will run for five weeks.
Izzard shared that she has always wanted to perform in a Shakespeare production but that "no producer is going to build a Hamlet around me," so instead, her brother Mark will adapt the tragedy play, with the actor taking on all 23 roles herself.
Elsewhere in her recent interview, Izzard revealed the reason she has decided to stick to straight male or trans roles.
She said "there’s too much politics around that to [play straight cis female roles] at the moment".
"So I will play trans roles or straight male roles, but I won’t play a straight female role, because that would be seen as taking a role from someone else," she added.
In addition to this, the star described the current debate around biological sex as a "minefield," adding: "My line on all of this is that women’s rights are human rights, and trans rights are human rights and we have to live together."
"I’d fight like crazy for women’s rights, but I don’t want to get into the biological-determinism argument, because it’s a minefield. I just keep sailing on," she continued. "I don’t think I’m doing any harm to anyone."
The comic, who previously came out as a transvestite in 1985, has spoken out in support of J.K. Rowling, who has been at the center of transphobia accusations for many years.
Speaking to The Telegraph in 2021, Izzard said: “I don’t think JK Rowling is transphobic. I think we need to look at the things she has written about in her blog. Women have been through such hell over history. Trans people have been invisible, too."
You can watch Izzard's production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Riverside Studios in London from May 23-June 30.