Johansson faces backlash over reported transgender role

Actress also draws ire over Japanese character in Ghost in the Shell

Scarlett Johansson faced a storm of criticism this week after it was reported that she would play a transgender man in a movie, a year after she drew scrutiny for taking on a role that was originally Japanese.

The newly announced film, Rub & Tug, is based on the reallife story of Dante (Tex) Gill, who ran a string of massage parlours that were fronts for prostitution dens in the 1970s and ’80s.

The online backlash was led by transgender actors, who argued that such casting takes opportunities away from marginalized communities.

“I wouldn’t be as upset if I was getting in the same rooms as Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett for cis roles, but we know that’s not the case,” actress Trace Lysette wrote on Twitter, referring to cisgender people, or those who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth.

“Not only do you play us and steal our narrative and our opportunity but you pat yourselves on the back with trophies and accolades for mimicking what we have lived,” added Lysette, who is a transgender woman and plays one on the TV series Transparent.

Representatives for Johansson did not respond to emails requesting comment.

Some of the criticism of Johansson took note of her starring role in the 2017 liveaction U.S. film adaptation of the Japanese manga series Ghost in the Shell, in which she played a character based on the series’ Major Motoko Kusanagi. That film was directed by Rupert Sanders, who will also direct Rub & Tug.

The studios behind Ghost in the Shell, Paramount and DreamWorks, said before the film’s release that the movie represented “a diverse array of cultures and countries.” Many did not agree.