Trans actors complaining about casting

The thing about acting is that it's not a scientific profession, it's an artform which is hugely subjective. If a character is trans, it may be appropriate to cast a trans actor. But there are always going to be other factors to consider. It's not a case of cast the person with the exactly corresponding characteristics as the character.

So, as disabilities have been mentioned, I'm thinking of the Dwayne Johnson film where he plays a man with only one leg. It's styled as a blockbuster action movie, and he's one of the most bankable action movie stars right now. It would make zero sense to find an actor with only one leg to play the part instead because there are other significant things to consider - not least that this is meant to trade on Dwayne Johnson's name. That's how the industry works.

Now, say the trans actor in Emmerdale now does really well. They're clearly well cast in a trans role, and it works because soaps have a history of raising awareness of various social changes. But say they become very popular and their profile is raised. Perhaps someone will write a vehicle with a trans character and they will be the perfect choice - not just because of their trans status, but because of their skills and popularity. That's how a popular career in acting flows. I have no problem with that at all.

But, like so many things, the TRA stuff wants contradictory things. They want only trans actors playing trans parts. They also want trans actors playing non trans parts because transwomen are women etc. and inclusivity blah blah blah. I can see half of the reasonable argument for the first sentence. I can't see it being compatible with the second sentence.

Representation and visibility is fine and a good thing. But this is not an industry which works solely by ticking demographic boxes.

By this analogy, men can't play the panto dames at Xmas.

Under stonewall's umbrella they can, because they are women

Why shouldn’t trans people hope that a trans part would be awarded to a trans actor?

Yes, in the same way I hope a women's 800m race would be won by a woman, or an all womens shortlist would be made up of women.

Exactly.

www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/01/12/sean-bean-takes-on-trans-role-for-bbc-drama/

Does this mean Sean Bean is a woman.

My comment was to do if the person concerned was a bad actor.

So unless you see "bad actors trying to get acting jobs" as a minority group, then I can't see what your point was?

(Perhaps I'll just pop over to Milan and demand priority on the catwalk, as I am a minority model? My fat ass and shortness aren't relevant, obviously)

You can't just call yourself a minority group when there's absolutely no definition for "you" or "them".

Being trans is not like being deaf, no matter how you choose to frame it.

what a frustrating attitude. Would you say the same about any other minority group?

I wonder if the trans actor/s concerned are just shit actors and hence the casting director picked someone who could actually....act.

Given how authentically acting would seem to be a key factor in picking an acting role.

Betty DuMonde

Kathryn Hunter playing Richard III made a huge impression on me.
www.atgtickets.com/blog/women-in-male-roles/

Cool!

I think it’s got a lot to do with the aesthetic.. Hayley Cropper was 20 years ago, but a big part of her story was her relationship with Roy. Most TW don’t pass very convincingly, and it was probably thought that depicting that on screen might have been difficult and off putting for the viewer, and I doubt much has changed in the interim, with the studios at least. That isn’t a criticism of TW btw, it’s a criticism of how society expects relationships to look. Let’s have trans actors filling trans roles, being trans-is a very unique way of being and I don’t think it can be accurately depicted by someone who isn’t trans.

Exalt = default

There are several theatres on London that are trying to ensure all new writing has at least 50% women’s roles. That means by exalt there is a higher likelihood of less than 50% male roles (you won’t get it bang on the nose so ‘at least’ will favour women).

There is an effort being made for women and their representation in theatre so it’s not fair to say no one cares.

You'd think not, wouldn't you? But noone minds what men do, it's just women.

By this analogy, men can't play the panto dames at Xmas.

I guess it comes down to money in the end - big names get big audiences.

Yes probably should go to a transwomen however transwomen don't as yet make big box office hence scarlet johansson being cast as a transwoman

I think the broader debate on this is quite interesting. There was a bit of a fuss recently about a heterosexual actor taking on a gay role, which I found really strange (and quite funny) because I remember when Tom Hanks took on the gay role in Philadelphia and was lauded as, er, stunning and brave because people thought it might damage his career. But apparently these days only gay actors should take on gay roles. Again, the logic of that, surely, is that only heterosexual actors should take on heterosexual roles, and I can't imagine that anyone would see that as a good thing.

And yet I can also see why disabled actors get pissed off at able-bodied actors playing disabled characters. It must be incredibly dispiriting, given that the chances that you, as a disabled actor, will be able to take on the role of an able-bodied person are next to zero. And obviously very few of us would want a return to the days when white actors blacked up to play black characters. But it's completely fine, as far as I'm concerned, for black actors to play characters that might originally have been imagined as white - there's no reason at all why Hermione in the Harry Potter play shouldn't be played by a black woman. Similarly, I think it's great to see the innovation of all-women casts in plays such as Julius Caesar.

So I do think the whole issue is quite complicated, and can't be dismissed through analogy with only Martians playing Martians.

If a part is specified to be a trans women then it should be acted by a trans woman. But if it is not specified then it should be acted by anyone the director sees fit, which could include a trans woman. I feel the same about all minorities even though I hold some gender critical beliefs about other areas where I feel biological women are made unsafe.

Well quite. But nevertheless they do have a specific characteristic which matches the role of a trans character. So cast them as trans characters - what’s unreasonable about that? The only time it could be an issue is if you have a limited pool of acters to draw from eg a student production where there are no trans people on the course.

Because in the industry, there are trans actors on the books of most agents.

I know we won’t agree but I don’t think it is unreasonable for trans people to want to be represented in drama but trans actors.

Perhaps a transwomens view of womanhood isn't nuanced enough for some directors.

I'm very happy to accept that trans roles should be played by trans people, as long as they are happy to accept that women should be played by women and men should be played by men.

It's entirely true to say that people who have not transitioned cannot possibly understand the lived experience of a trans person. Just as it would be true to say that a trans woman could not possibly understand the lived experience of a biological woman.

Of course, there is an alternative view that actors are actors and that they should therefore be allowed to act in any role as the director sees fit. However, you're going to go down the route of insisting that actors cannot play things that they are not, then biological men/women should never play trans roles and trans women should never play biological women.

Look I’m happy for trans actors to be actors but I’m not convinced they bring any particular skills then any other actor

No we don’t. Need to but most directors/writers aren’t clever enough to do it. So when a role s for a deaf character lets give them the opportunity over s hearing actor.

Why do we have to throw every ounce of decency out with this conflict?