LEADING TRANS ACTORS
Paving The Way With Hunter Schafer, Mj Rodriguez +
Though Pride Month is feeling a bit different this year, PROVOKR wants to acknowledge a surge of transgender talent featured on TV. According to GLAAD’s Where We Are On TV report, there were 38 regular and recurring transgender characters in 2019. Trans talent is behind some of those characters as well. Here are five actors leading the way:
THEO GERMAINE
Theo Germaine graced Netflix viewers with their presence in Ryan Murphy’s The Politician. In the show, no one uses labels to describe who they are. It’s a diverse utopia, which Germaine likes about the series.
“Everybody in the show is just kinda fluid and kind of all over the place, but nothing is specifically talked about,” Germaine said. “Which was kinda scary at first, because I’m so used to having to label myself.”
Shortly after their success on The Politician, Germaine landed a transgender role in Work In Progress. With the second season of The Politician airing soon, we can’t wait to see what their character, James, gets up to next.
HUNTER SCHAFER
TV lovers know Hunter Schafer from the HBO hit series Euphoria. In it, Schafer plays transgender teen Jules Vaughn. Her character has a romantic relationship with Rue, played by Zendaya. Though Euphoria made her a TV star, Schafer was, at first, a fashion model. Schafer has no TV or film projects outside the teen drama, but that doesn’t make her impact any less significant.
ELLIOT FLETCHER
It’s challenging to discuss Hollywood’s acceptance of trans actors without mentioning Elliot Fletcher. He has secured cable and premium TV roles that don’t reduce characters to stereotypes. He had his breakout performance in Faking It, then went on to play Trevor in Shameless. Perhaps his most significant role was on Freeform’s The Fosters, where he played a love interest to Maia Mitchell’s character, Callie.
ALEX BLUE DAVIS
After appearing in guest roles on shows like NCIS and 2 Broke Girls, Alex Blue Davis landed a recurring role on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. In the show, Davis plays Dr. Casey Parker, who is a “proud trans-man.” When his character came out, Davis said it’s a moment he’ll never forget.
“TV is opening up a greater range of roles [for trans-characters]: Laverne played a lawyer on Doubt and I’m playing a doctor — both roles haven’t really been seen before [for trans characters],” Davis told The Hollywood Reporter. “People can see trans-folks in a new light: these are people who walk among us and are human beings who have lives. They’re not defined by being trans.”
MJ RODRIGUEZ
Mj Rodrigues secured a spot among the largest transgender cast for a scripted show when she joined Pose. FX’s voguing drama highlights and takes place at the pinnacle of the HIV crisis in America. But before she stepped into the role of Bianca, Mj played Angel in the 2011 revival of Rent. More recently, she was Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors and became the first transgender woman of color to play Audrey in a major production.
