Tessa Thompson Finds Her Own 'Hedda'
Nia DaCosta’s adaptation relocates Hedda Gabler to 1954 England with Tessa Thompson as a queer antiheroine in a drama exploring race, gender, and power dynamics.
- On October 22, 2025, Nia DaCosta's writer-director adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play starring Tessa Thompson was reviewed ahead of its theatrical Friday and streaming Oct. 29 release.
- Amid efforts to update Ibsen, Nia DaCosta layered race and sexuality atop Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and gender-swapped characters to explore queerness, race, and gender politics.
- Condensing Ibsen to one night, the film stages a single party at Hedda's mansion where Hedda manipulates guests, pushing Thea Clifton into a lake during the drug-fueled chaos.
- Tessa Thompson's performance drew high praise from reviewers, placing her in the mix for a best actress Oscar nomination this year and among famed Hedda portrayals.
- The film joins a long tradition of Hedda portrayals since Henrik Ibsen's 1891 premiere and reframes the character as a queer, Black antiheroine in modern gender and power debates.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Interview: Nia DaCosta On 'Hedda,' Tackling Race And Gender, and working with Tessa Thompson
Words by: Brandon Pope You’re hard pressed to find another movie like Nia DaCosta’s Hedda this year, a daring and psychologically challenging adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. In Hedda, Tessa Thompson stars as… The post Interview: Nia DaCosta On ‘Hedda,’ Tackling Race And Gender, and working with Tessa Thompson appeared first on .
'Hedda' review: 'Hedda Gabler' meets 'Saltburn' in Nia DiCosta's sexy, sapphic adaptation
Hedda Gabler is a glorious bitch, and Tessa Thompson was born to play her. First unleashed upon the world in the titular 1891 play by Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler would go on to become a figure so compelling and conniving that actresses for over a century — from Ingrid Bergman to Diana Rigg, Maggie Smith to Cate Blanchett — have relished the opportunity to play her. But Thompson, in Nia DaCosta's fiery reimagining Hedda, takes this role to rich an…
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