Eddie lives his American dream

Telegraph.co.uk

Eddie Izzard is big news in America but he’s had to go easy on the cross-dressing. He talks to John Hiscock

Eddie Izzard looks every inch the Hollywood player. Dressed in a dark “power” suit and looking slim with a neat goatee, he has a firm handshake and no-nonsense air about him as he strides purposefully into the Beverly Hills hotel where we meet.

Since he has begun making an impact as a serious actor in Hollywood, the transvestite comedian has had to keep his make-up and women’s clothes in the closet and concentrate on being a man.

“If you turn up for an audition wearing a dress, they’re not going to give you the role,” he says.

“So I’ve stayed in boy mode for the past few years. In a perfect world I would just get up in the morning and flip a coin and say, ‘Oh, I’m wearing a dress today.’ But I have to be tactical.”