Backlash as Scarlett takes on trans role

SCARLETT Johansson has been criticised for agreeing to play a transgender man in a new film.

The actress, 33, will play 1970s crime boss Dante ‘Tex’ Gill, who was born Jean Gill but identified as a man, in Rub & Tug.

Several fans of the Avengers star have criticised her for taking on a role they say should have gone to a trans man.

One wrote: ‘There are literally so many trans actors that could’ve been cast in this role.’

Another said: ‘Scarlett Johansson is playing a trans man in her next movie because her ultimate career goal is to take an acting job from a member of every marginalized group.’

Miss Johansson has been criticised for her choice of roles before. In 2017 she was accused of ‘whitewashing’ in Ghost In The Shell – like Rub & Tug, directed by Rupert Sanders – in which she played a character originally written as Asian.