Norwegian play Hedda Gabler has seen many an adaptation since its stage debut in 1891. But Nia DaCosta's take on the classic tragedy is unlike anything we've seen. Sexy, raucous and playful, Hedda is a modernised adaptation in tone and the themes explored. DaCosta, as both writer and director, makes several changes to the source material. The time period and location have shifted to 1950s England. But perhaps most noticeably, certain characters have been gender-swapped, in effect making several cast members queer.

A number of mainstream films with a prominent LGBTQ+ character typically fall into a category of being morally good, bad, or grey. Hedda, with several queer characters each with their own complexities, shows a range of characteristics through a queer lens. FILMHOUNDS recently attended a virtual press conference for Hedda, attended by DaCosta and lead actors Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss, where we asked about this approach and whether this was evident in the script or incorporated throughout production.

DaCosta answered, “Oh, that's so interesting. I never thought about it in those structural terms. I didn't set out to make a queer film; I wasn't even thinking about that at all. But of course, when I changed Ejlert to Eileen (Nina Hoss), I was like, “Oh, okay, now we have a queer hero at the centre of the story.” And that texturises everything that they go through.

The only thing I really thought of that I wanted to be careful of was the ‘Kill Your Gays' trope. That was something where I was like, “Oh, I don't want to lean into that.” There's also the sad lesbians in the past thing, but I was like, “Too late. It's too bad. That's what's happening.” But no, for me, it wasn't about them being queer women and giving them these distinctive sort of good, bad, gray. It was really about making Ejlert Eileen because I wanted more women. I wanted this to be about women. And I don't think you have to be a queer woman to also identify with them.

You know, I think this idea of bravery and cowardice that Hedda's (Tessa Thompson) so wrapped up in, we start to think, “Is Thea (Imogen Poots) the bravest one actually of all of them?” But then again, watching Eileen walking into that room of men, that's incredibly brave. And for Hedda, she's in so much pain, and for her to just get out of bed every day, that's a kind of bravery as well. These are all women who are toeing that line and discovering what that means for them, even if they're not conscious of that journey. So that's really how I thought about those characters and why I love them so much.”

Hedda is available now on Amazon Prime Video.