A closer look
The first true international movie star was a Danish icon who decided the best way to play Shakespeare was to crossdress. Long before Hollywood established its rigid star system, Europe's Asta Nielsen was practically printing money at the box office. She possessed a striking, androgynous look that she pushed to its absolute limits in 1920 when she produced and starred in her own silent film adaptation of Hamlet. She didn't just play the role; she reframed Hamlet as a female princess forced to live as a prince to preserve the royal lineage. It was a radical, gender-bending middle finger to traditional theater norms that audiences absolutely devoured.
