Transgender Hollywood seeks recognition for work, and not just roles
NEW YORK — When actress Scarlett Johansson reversed course recently and canceled plans to play a transgender man in the film "Rub & Tug," transgender actors like Scott Turner Schofield were gratified — and pleasantly surprised. After years of watching non-trans stars win accolades — including Oscars — for what was seen as bravery in playing transgender characters, finally it seemed that somebody got it.
"To have someone with any amount of power be reflective, and say, 'I did something wrong, I learned something and I'm sorry' — that absolutely feels like change," says Schofield, a veteran trans performer who stars in the upcoming European film "The Conductor."
Now, Schofield and others hope Hollywood will understand an even bigger point — that the "authentic casting" debate stoked by the Johansson episode isn't just about who gets acting roles. The real goal, he says, is access for the transgender community at every level of the Hollywood storytelling process, from the first idea pitch to the final product. "We need to take the reins here," Schofield says. "We need to be a substantive part of this conversation."
Advocates are hoping that the current focus on transgender Hollywood will help. "Hollywood right now is being very introspective about the stories it's telling and how it's telling them," says Nick Adams, director of the transgender media program at GLAAD, the LGBT advocacy group. "We're having a cultural moment where the trans community is speaking up and saying, 'We want to be part of that.'"
To that end, GLAAD and the equality organization 50/50BY2020 on Tuesday issued an "open letter to Hollywood," signed by a large array of organizations and companies — from the American Civil Liberties Union to Time's Up, from producers including Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, Ava DuVernay and Judd Apatow, to the major talent agencies.
"Trans people are fighting every day to be seen and accepted as human beings," says the letter. "We believe we are at an unprecedented cultural moment," it says, "where we can ask Hollywood to use its power to improve the lives of trans people by changing America's understanding about who trans people are."