Oh Lordy. I was hoping someone would bring this up. I fell down an almighty head fuck of a rabbit hole about this the other day.
People were discussing who should be allowed to play which kinds of characters.
So it began with the 'trans people should have the trans roles' argument... because, apparently, it's not enough to be an actor - you should have the lives experience of the character you are playing... or some such bollocks. Not sure how that goes for someone playing Ted Bundy. Or a fish in Finding Nemo, but hey.
But then someone pointed out that that's not enough. Trans people shouldn't have to stick to trans roles. They should be cast in the roles of their gender too. Anything else is transphobic.
So there was some talk of what roles would suit different trans actors.
And I was trying to work out what this would look like. I mean, some trans women 'pass' when they are heavily made up and dressed up, but what if the film was a serious drama where a woman character was hanging around the flat in her pyjamas with no make-up on. Suspending disbelief would take some doing.
But then it goes further... because then people started to say 'well hang on. You say trans actors need to play trans roles because of lives experience, but you want to be able to play characters who might be called upon to give birth... you don't have that lived experience.'
And the answer?
'They're skilled actors. They could act it.'
Full circle, ladies and gents. Totally batshit.