Trans actors complaining about casting

Role rather than roll. It’s dinner time here :)

That’s nonsense. You don’t have to limit minorities to only playing parts where their characteristic is explicit in the role.

But it’s not the same as a job. We ask childless actors to play parents. We ask actors to do all sorts of thing be animals, be creatures never seen before, be gods and goddesses, I’ve seen actors play trees, be TVs, be chairs, all sorts of things that are different from how they physically look. And they can because they are actors.

Why then should deaf actors play deaf characters? Because there is not many deaf rolls and most writers aren’t clever enough to make use of a deaf actor in a non deaf roll.

No because they can do what they like as stunning and brave.

Surely the logic of this is that if only a trans actor can play a trans character, only a non-trans actor can play a non-trans character. This would mean that trans actors end up being limited to playing only trans characters, which I can't imagine they'd be delighted with.

I saw Frankenatein on stage. Just sayin'...

I think the issue is that Hollywood just won't add transwomen as major characters if they think they aren't sexually attractive. Welcome to the world of women.

I think trans actors should play a variety of roles.

Why do they want to limit themselves? Is their only purpose to fill a niche market segment?

Oh, there they go being neoliberal twits again. As usual. And they still think they are the progressive ones.

And it’s not the same as asking an astronaut to play an astronaut. It’s asking an actor with a specific characteristic to play a character with the same characteristic which is wholly appropriate.

Only if you believe that a trans woman should resemble a cis woman. That's not always the case.

I agree with you otherwise.

Except there is a huge physical element to it.

Urban I don’t think trans is a physical characteristic rather a belief. So I agree that deaf actors should get deaf roles, I think trans is similar to say religious belief. So I think an atheist could play a catholic and vis versa

Apologies - I know being trans is more than a physical characteristic but that is a part of it.

There is a series I watched on Netflix that has a trans character, I won't name the show because it's a bit of a plot spoiler but after watching I googled the show to read reviews and one of the top hits was a Reddit post complaining about the transphobia.

One of their main issues was that a female actress was playing the transwoman but then countered that with it could be worse because at least it wasn't the usual male actor in a wig.

I should point out that the only way the plot would have worked is by having a female actress play the part because up until the finale the trans character was completely stealth and it was integral to the storyline that the audience didn't realise.

I suppose it's possible they could have found one of the very rare transwomen who passes from every single angle and also vocally but even if they found said person it's not likely they would be an actor by trade or that they could even act at all.

Trans is a physical characteristic. I am deaf and would hope that a deaf actor, if available, would be prioritised in the casting of a deaf person.

You can’t on one hand say trans women aren’t women then on the other hand say woman can be cast as trans women because they are the same.

And if you do believe trans women are women, a type of women, then you would also surely want someone from that type to represent a trans woman, same as you would want a deaf actor to play a deaf person.

So weather you argue for or against trans women being women, logic says trans women should be played by trans actors.

But logically why should they?

Should gay people get all gay roles?

Real brunettes get brunette roles?

Actual astronauts get astronaut roles?

Why should Hollywood ever have to use Only X Person In Real Life for X role?

Exactly Milady.

What will happen if only trans people are allowed to play trans people is that studios will make fewer dramas where they feature. Bit of an own goal

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.

I wish we could fight for the important female sex only spaces without trying to deny trans people anything and everything. Why shouldn’t trans people hope that a trans part would be awarded to a trans actor? Same applies for other minorities wherever possible.

I'm pretty unhappy that our actual biological hard-won rights (like women's sports, women's refuges; women's spaces) are all being handed over to anyone who wants them myself. My heart doesn't bleed for an actor who doesn't get a role.

Luckily for them though, transwomen are becoming an increasingly popular porn category, and the moment that Hollywood thinks most men would like to have sex with a transwoman, they'll become stars. Sex is the main thing they sell - you've got to be attractive to your audience, which is why so many gay actors hide it.

I don’t know. For some minorities there are very few parts on stage, film or tv. If I were an available and proficient actor and trans I would be pretty unhappy if one of those few parts came up and they gave it to someone who hadn’t been through transition.

Hayley was played by a female-identifying XX person. Which really set the precedent in UK twenty years ago

The point is, they're acting and you don't get roles reserved for you because of personal history. It's simply about whether your face fits (very brutal business, because of the number of rejections one can expect).

Also, when you don't have a definition of transgender beyond "doesn't like the gender stereotypes of their sex", then almost everyone qualifies. How dare they assume anything about any actor or actress?