The story of the first person to undergo sex reassignment surgery is coming to the big screen, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Nicole Kidman is set to star in and produce the dramatic story of the world's first transgender person, Danish artist Einar Wagener. The movie is being adapted from the novel The Danish Girl, a fictionalized account of the Wagener story by freshman novelist David Ebershoff.

Einar (played by Kidman, The Hours, Moulin Rouge! ) first became consumed with the idea of altering his sex after his wife, Greta Wegener played by Charlize Theron (Cider House Rules, Monster), asked him to stand in for a female model she was set to paint.

Einar posed for a number of paintings for his wife; the paintings became wildly popular in 1920's Copenhagen. Greta's game of dressing her husband as a woman ultimately led him to his historic 1931 operation. The transformation shocked the world and threatened the couple's marriage.

Kidman and Theron worked together previously in the 2002 film The Hours, where – ironically enough – Kidman delivered an Oscar-winning portrayal of a lesbian character. Thirty-three year-old Theron also won an Oscar playing gay in the film Monster.