P.S. Share your thoughts on this!
There is major discrimination against trans* actors both in film and in theatre. The suggestion that “It may be that nobody with a trans history is competent to play mainstream roles” is insulting to the trans* actors that face significant barriers to an acting career, and not because they lack training or competency but because they are told that by playing cisgender roles they will either: a) fuck with a director’s vision (Scott Turner Schofield has a great monologue about this), or b) that audiences will be too distracted by their trans* identity to follow/believe the story being played on stage. I have heard both of these lines by directors and professors. But there are not many roles written about trans* characters and those are often then filled by cisgender actors desperate to play something they see as challenging. Enrique Urueta, a playwright who actually has written trans* characters, told me once that when looking for funding to create new plays he has been discouraged to write trans* actors because producers believe that there are none. The result of all this discrimination: many of us trans* actors end up leaving the profession or working in other areas in the theatre. This is not because we lack talent as actors, but because it is exhausting and detrimental to our mental health to be in such a toxic cissexist environment, not to mention the need to make a living at some point.
I’m a decent actor. I love acting both on stage and film, and it pains me that I have found it necessary to step back from theatre because of the cissexism I encountered. We need directors and producers to challenge the cissexism in the theatre and film industries. But if you don’t find many trans* actors showing up for a casting call, don’t write it off as a problem of our not existing or not being invested. Rather if you wish to be an ally as a director/producer you may need to rethink how you advertise your work and how you go about casting. What language do you use? Where do you post? Are you including trans* people in ways that merely tokenize them or do you really believe in inclusion? Are you willing to challenge oppressive language and behavior in the process of producing a play/film, because believe me there is a lot and not just against trans* people?
I believe that there is a need for theatre and film companies who work within a social justice frame and challenge oppression in both what is produced and how it is produced. This extends to issues beyond cissexism. We need to see actors with disabilities, fat actors, ugly actors (and not just as the comedic relief or villian), more diverse roles for people of colour, visibly queer people, more queer people in general… the list goes on. When watching films or live shows, ask yourself: who is not being represented? What are the identities that are only given marginal attention? Who is cast in supporting roles vs. main characters? Are characters with marginalized identities written in a multidimensional way? If you are a director or producer, consider these types of questions when picking shows. Also look at your facilities: are there gender neutral bathrooms/dressing areas? Is it accessible? Many theaters aren’t really accessible though they may claim to be. If an actor cannot access the stage without going through a long route to get to it, then it’s not really accessible. If actors with marginalized identities don’t come to casting calls, question what you can do to change this. Because I can assure you if we didn’t show up, it’s not because we don’t exist and you better believe that plenty of us are more than just “competent.”
(via transqueery)
