Recently, the issue of whether a non-trans actor should be playing trans roles came under discussion when the newest series of Netflix sensation Squid Game announced its cast. Hyun-Ju, a pre-op transsexual, is played by a male actor, Park Sung-hoon, in a wig. The fact that this type of casting is accepted as outdated clashes with the fact that the character has now become a fan favourite, is a positive and heroic portrayal of a transfeminine character, and ultimately survives.
Allegedly, a trans actor was not cast due to the incredibly conservative nature of South Korea. This was illustrated by the furore there when Park Sung-hoon posted a photo online of the Squid Game porno parody, something that in the West would be featured on The Graham Norton Show as a joke, but in Korea, is seen as taboo. Showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk explained to TV Guide, “When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in the Korean society currently the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking.” Although I can think of two, Harisu and Choi Han-Bit, one has been inactive for a while, and as with Monkey Man, casting someone who has had full surgery for a pre-op character may have somewhat unwisely been considered unrealistic.
Compare this with the other major Netflix production of the moment to feature a trans character, Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez (2024). Emilia Perez stars Spanish trans actress Karla Sofia Gascon as a Mexican drug lord who transitions. Whether this is purely to escape or that they are actually trans is something the film seems ambivalent about. The truth is, the character of Emilia, despite the name, is barely the focus, focusing more on Zoe Saldana’s lawyer and Emilia’s love interest played by Selena Gomez. The character of Emilia is a cipher, complete with an outrageously quick instant sex change right out of The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970). As a man, they are a cartoonish drug lord and former pederast who looks like Jenifer Saunders as Post Malone. As a woman, they are a one-dimensional, saintly image of pure femininity and good, and not much else. And it troubles me to say this, but I feel that for all the films’ award buzz, the character and performance is far less interesting than several of the various male actors who have been nominated for playing trans women. But then again, the entire film is a mess, that should be criticised not for its portrayal of transness but for its bizarre Paris studio Mexico.
However, the contrast between the two performances highlights something.
No openly trans actor has ever been nominated for an Oscar. The following have been nominated for playing trans characters. Chris Sarandon as Leon/Lana in Dog Day Afternoon (1975), John Lithgow as Roberta in The World According to Garp (1982), Jaye Davidson as Dill in Boys Don’t Cry (1992), Hilary Swank as trans man Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Felicity Huffman as a trans woman in Transamerica (2005), Glenn Close and Janet McTeer as trans men in Albert Nobbs (2011), Jared Leto as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club (2013). However, the Academy have also nominated Linda Hunt, who played a genetic man (albeit in yellowface) in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), and Cate Blanchett, who played a variant of Bob Dylan in I’m Not There (2007). Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie (1982)), Julie Andrews and Robert Preston (Victor/Victoria (1982)), and Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1999)) all were nominated for playing people who themselves are playing characters of the opposite gender. And then there’s Jack Lemmon as Daphne in Some Like It Hot (1959), a character further adaptations of which have taken further and as in the recent stage musical, have made an explicit trans woman.
Granted, one of those was a gender-nonconforming feminine gay man (Jaye Davidson), and the character of Dill in The Crying Game (1992) is somewhat nebulously defined. For many years, Neil Jordan denied the character was trans, because in his defence, he presumed that being trans pertained only to transsexuality, and the character of Dill was in his eyes a transvestite or a femboy. And the casting call was to find a feminine boy. And that’s what Davidson was. However, Davidson had once said he had considered transitioning, spoke about how they didn’t like wearing drag, for it was too much effort (this trans person agrees with you, Jaye). So, again it proves that it is a nebulous hinterland at times, for that is what gender is.
Okay, Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club and Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl fall into the exact same traps that Gascon’s Emilia has, but John Lithgow as Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp (1982) is a beautifully written, positive character. Of course, casting one of America’s greatest character actors (who has done drag again in Raising Cain and of course, the expected ‘Dick drags up’ ep of 3rd Rock From The Sun) helps.
Now, I am a trans person who dislikes the term cisness and also the term ‘cis privilege’, a term which is often used in regards to this subject. Because I believe gender is a cultural and social construct, and that what are seen as feminine dress and mannerisms in some cultures are considered masculine in others. And that even when non-trans male actors who have played trans women present in a non-conforming manner either intentionally (i.e. Eddie Redmayne at the Met Gala) or unintentionally (Cillian Murphy on GQ), people will still complain about them that they are ‘transing the kiddies’.
So, do I believe that ‘cis’ people should play trans women and trans men, especially do I think men should play trans women? In theory, I do. As I said, for me to say otherwise would be against my own idea and experience of gender. Gender nonconformity and fluidity shouldn’t be cordoned off to a precious few. We should all be seen as genderless. And the truth is, I enjoy seeing men portray women. I think it is something that should be done more, especially when men play genetic women. I think it is something that should be done more to prove how utterly irrelevant gender is.
However, the truth is, most transfeminine performances by men ARE rubbish. A case in point with Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club (2013). Leto has dabbled with gender nonconformity throughout his life, but his turn as Rayon was rightly seen as a joke despite the Oscar win. Even if the male actors look beautiful in drag (i.e. Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl (2014) or Stephen Dorff as Candy Darling in I Shot Andy Warhol (1998)), they don’t quite carry off the character or the feeling of being a woman. Dorff is fun in I Shot Andy Warhol, and he makes an appealing ditz, but he’s more Sandra Dickinson than Candy Darling. He tries his best, but ultimately, unintentionally, while he gives a good female performance, calling that character ‘Candy Darling’ is an insult to the real Candy.
So, should a man play a transfeminine character? In theory, yes. But the problem is, what is the context? I think that male child actors can be allowed to play female trans kids, but I do note that several child actors have become rather embarrassed of their earlier roles en femme. And also, sometimes a boy who looks clearly uncomfortable en femme can often look creepy, reminding one of the boy actor who played Melissa in Mario Bava’s Kill Baby Kill! (1966).
The thing about a lot of men playing trans women is that it looks ridiculous. Very few male actors can pull off drag. There was an episode of The Closer (TNT, 2006) where Michael Lerner’s character is shocked that his old pal George is now Georgette. Georgette was played by Beau Bridges, and any attempt at making the character sympathetic or realistic was waylaid because it’s BEAU BRIDGES! IN A FLORAL DRESS. Beau Bridges dressed as Hyacinth Bucket is such a laughable image that the only way you can take it seriously is imagining it is a Quantum Leap situation. It proved that it was impossible to buy the character as trans, not because it was a man in a dress. But that it was such a well-known character actor in that dress. Similarly, Neil Morrissey in the 1999 ITV drama Hunting Venus, where he plays a transitioned former 80s pop idol who has to present as her male self, though in still photos, Neil Morrissey actually looks quite attractive en femme, the illusion is shattered instantly because it’s still Neil Morrissey, so he still talks like and has the mannerisms of Neil Morrissey.
Of course, some character actors playing trans have been quite good. But often, you have to have a caveat. People now often criticise Chris Sarandon’s Oscar-nominated turn as Leon/Lana Shermer in Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Partly because a real trans woman, John Waters vet Elizabeth Coffey was turned down for the part on account of being too feminine, and partly because we have a guy as a trans girl. The film does tone down Liz’s transness. She mostly appears unshaven and in half-drag. However, I’ll defend the portrayal. Like Stephen Dorff’s Candy Darling (the real Darling and the real Leon, Elizabeth Eden were almost doppelgangers), it is nothing like the real person, and I understand it is a travesty of the real Liz. However, Sarandon’s Lana IMO is a fun character. And as a sloppy femme myself, who mostly presents unshaven, and half-arsed, I identify with Leon/Lana. The one time we see ‘her’ in drag, in a photo of her wedding day, Sarandon actually looks not bad, bearing some resemblance to androgynous Sparks star Russell Mael.
But often, it will come across as artificial. And though some transfeminine people like myself feel more like men playing women, we also must acknowledge that trans women absolutely do not. Because the transfeminine spectrum is wide-ranging (and I do include ‘cis’ cross-dressing men in my own personal transfeminine canon). Some trans people are fine with being seen as a guy in a wig. But from everything that I have read about the character of Hyun-Ju, is a dysphoric transsexual and not a transvestite or a genderqueer transfeminine.
I think it is because now more and more actors see the problems when it comes to portraying trans people on screen. One of the things that always trips up a trans performance is voice. A lot of male actors when trying to do the voice just can’t pull it off. There are a few who could (although I am sure Jaye Davidson just sounded like that in real life), but then there are ones who don’t quite get it. Peter Outerbridge as trans woman Judy in Better than Chocolate (1999) is a fine performance. The character is positive, and Outerbridge gives a convincing turn. However, she is supposed to have been on hormones for some time, and though the makeup department manage to make Outerbridge look lovely, in slinky black satin, he just doesn’t look like a medicalised trans woman. And his voice, at times likeably breathy just at other times (especially when she sings), reminds one of David Cross’ turn as Mrs. Featherbottom in Arrested Development. However, I would like to see Outerbridge play a genetic woman. I think he could carry it.
Sometimes, the most convincing are the ones who don’t try to squeak it out. Genetic feminine voices aren’t always high. To me, the most convincing male replication of a feminine voice is the work of Graham Fellows in The Shuttleworths. Though he does use tape speeding to help pitch, he never sounds like he’s playing a woman as a joke. His best female voice, Joan Chitty, requires him to sound much LOWER than his real voice. Joan’s fag-ravaged ‘deep voiced Mary’ voice is low and throaty, but it is feminine, albeit a voice less common thanks to the smoking ban. However, it does prove that certain female voices can be replicated with men.
Although like with Outerbridge, David Duchovny as Denise Bryson in Twin Peaks (1991/2017) is playing a medicalised trans woman, at least in the original run, he was convincing. His natural voice just helped to sell the authenticity and the naturalism of the character, and also the makeup and hair department managed to make Denise beautiful enough that she became an unlikely crush for people of a certain age. This was slightly less convincing in the revival, where we are to believe Denise has been on HRT for 25 years. However, though again the makeup department try their best, the fact that Duchovny became a star himself in the 25 years since means that we can no longer solely see Denise but Fox Mulder or Hank Moody or any other character Duchovny has played.
In recent years, more and more trans actors have come up, and now the excuse of it being difficult in finding a trans actor is less understandable. Granted, as someone Irish, I have found it difficult to find trans talent. However, they are always out there. One difficult topic is the subject of trans kids. While series and films have cast trans kids as trans kids, others, understanding how hard it can be for a child actor, have gone for more experienced boy actors. Sometimes, it doesn’t quite work. Callum Booth-Ford in Butterfly (2018) never looks truly comfortable as the girl we are to believe his character so desperately wants to be.
I remember reading an article on the blog Femulate by the trans woman Stana Horzepa, who is quite open about her belief that men can play trans women. Because after all, it is acting. She also feels like me, that if it were between a man in drag and a woman to play a trans woman, it would be her choice to cast a man. In other words, casting a woman would deny the biological reality of the character. This is obviously somewhat controversial. However, I can understand her take. For me, it would be a matter of what the character is on the page.
For me, the best trans characters played by men to me are the ones whose transness is almost subtext, that the characters are at least gender nonconforming but the performances have T-girl swag that perhaps informs them even more than the scant details within the film. In Hackers (1995) and To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), Matthew Lillard and John Leguizamo so convincingly embody their roles as pigtailed cyberslut Cereal Killer and Latina drag queen Chi Chi (a character that Leguizamo has confirmed is indeed a trans woman, but that he would want a trans actress to play her now). Lillard particularly captures a certain trans lesbian goofiness, that at least imbues the quality of a non-binary transfemme dyke.
However, there are recent films that show that YES, a trans woman can be played by a non-trans man, and actually be embraced universally by the trans community. Dev Patel’s Monkey Man (2024) is an interesting case. Kid (Patel) is rescued by a group of the hijra subculture in India. Classifying the hijra is complex. The term is often used to mean simply an Indian trans woman, but it is a specific subculture made up of trans women, intersex women, nonbinary people and even a few plain old cross-dressing men. Hijras are often portrayed in Indian cinema, but almost always by men, something of an increasing controversy in India. However, Monkey Man, due to the COVID outbreak was shot in Indonesia. Veteran male Indian character actor Vipin Sharma plays the hijra elder of Alpha, in a virtuoso turn, serving as a kind of transfemme desi Yoda or Mr. Miyagi. However, the other hijras, who are portrayed in the most positive light imaginable as beautiful kickass amazons, were played by a variety of types. The four main hijras secondary to Alpha are Lakshmi (Pehan Metuah Abdul), Yummy (Reva Marchellin), Priya (Dayangku Zyana) and Pooja (Fahad Scale). Of these four, the first three are trans women, while Scale is a man who was brought into the production by Abdul and Marchellin. While obviously not as beautiful as the other three, Scale, an acting novice brings a charm and looks comfortable enough in their saree and lehenga, that we buy that Pooja is a beautiful young woman. The rest of the group were played by male actors and stuntmen, some of whom had experience with drag. This was because COVID had made it impossible to shoot in India and bring in hijras. Also, most hijras are non-medicalised, living in poverty and often the only gender affirming care they get is castration. Patel had to resort to finding crew members who looked androgynous enough to pass as a trans girl.
However, unlike Finlandia (2021), where the similar subculture of the muxes were all played by dolled-up men unconvincingly playing up the trauma, in Monkey Man, you never feel you are seeing men on camera. Never does one see Alpha as a man being paid to wear a dress for a film shoot. I must admit I was disappointed that some of the background hijras were men, so convincing was their performance. However, that is not the point. As Abdul and Zyana told me, they were there representing the hijra in absentia, bringing to light the suffering and the positivity and the sheer resilience of these remarkable women. They are the highlight of the film.
This same year, in a world of increasing trans representation behind the camera, non-binary trans femme director Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow (2024) features queer male actor Justice Smith as closeted trans woman Isabel. Now, the fact that the character is only seen in drag briefly but strikingly may allow the casting of a man, but Smith is so good that you can’t imagine anyone, ‘cis’ (God I hate the word) or trans in the role. He captures the loneliness, the desolation, the agony of being a woman trapped in a man’s body. And in the brief moment where we see Isabel in a purple dress, he both looks good in the gown, and manages to sell the euphoria. I would love to see how he would play an openly trans woman. In my opinion, he might give the most convincing performance of a trans woman from a non-trans actor yet. This proves that yes, a man can play a trans woman, but it’s as much about casting the right actor, as it is for any part. Maybe, the safest bet is to cast a trans woman, but not all transfeminine people identify as women. The recent film Layla (2024), directed by a non-binary drag artist, Amrou Al-Kadhi, casts a male actor, Bilal Hasna, as a non-binary drag artist, based on Al-Kadhi. If the director themselves casts a non-GNC actor as a GNC character, then that proves how subjective the topic and indeed gender fluidity is.
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