Comedian and activist Suzy Eddie Izzard says she’s wanted her new name since the age of 10

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

Suzy Eddie Izzard is looking forward to a new chapter.

The activist and comedian announced her new name on Tuesday’s episode of the Political Party podcast.

“I’m going to be Suzy Eddie Izzard, that’s how I’m going to roll,” she said. “So, people can choose what they want. They can’t make a mistake. They can’t go wrong with me.”

The Emmy-winner said on the podcast that she’s wanted to go by the name of Suzy since she was 10 years old. At the time, she said, she thought “no this is not going to happen.”

Once Izzard’s Hollywood career began picking up, she said she felt like she couldn’t “redo” what her public-facing name had already become.

“And then I thought well, if I’m doing she/her, why don’t I add that to the name? Because I’ve got ‘Edward’ on my passport, it’s quite wooden and big and I don’t call myself that. So, I just thought I’ll add Suzy there, and then Eddie, and people can choose what they want and no one can go wrong,” she said.

Izzard came out as transgender in the 1980s. She started using the pronouns she/her in 2019 after the chancellor for Swansea University referred to Izzard with those pronouns during a ceremony in which she was presented with an honorary degree. She explained that “it felt amazing” to hear herself referred to as “she/her” and adopted the pronouns as her own thereafter.

In 2020, Izzard began publicly using feminine pronouns while appearing on a segment of Sky Arts’ “Portrait Artist of the Year.”

Izzard has had a decades-long career in film and television appearing in the “Ocean’s 11” films and NBC’s “Hannibal” series, among many other titles, in addition to her stand-up comedy work. Outside of Hollywood, Izzard is a member of the UK’s Labour Party and is a dedicated political activist.

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