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Halle Berry Apologizes For Considering Playing A Transgender Character

This article is more than 3 years old.
Updated Jul 7, 2020, 10:47am EDT

TOPLINE

Halle Berry apologized Monday night and said that she will no longer consider playing a transgender person in an upcoming film role, opening up a larger dialogue about representation — last month multiple actors and actresses who were set to play people of a different race were recast.  

KEY FACTS

In an Instagram live interview on Friday, the actress said that she was preparing for a role, but had yet to be cast. 

Berry received criticism on social media for misgendering the character multiple times throughout the interview using the pronouns “woman” “she” and “her” to describe a character who transitioned and calling it a “female story.”

On Monday night she apologized on Twitter and said that “the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.”

LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD tweeted that they were pleased Berry “listened to the concerns of transgender people and learned from them” and urged other powerful people to do the same and to watch the Netflix documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, which examines Hollywood’s portrayal of transgender people. 

The controversy about cisgender people playing transgender people in movies has gone on for decades — notable actors and actresses who have played transgender people include John Lithgow, Hillary Swank, Felicity Huffman, Sofia Vergara and Glenn Close. 

Chief critic

The team behind Disclosure, which was released in June, initially tweeted at Berry asking her to watch the documentary to understand “how cis actors like yourself acting in trans roles has major cultural consequences offscreen” then thanked her for “listening and learning” after she said she would no longer consider the role. 

tangent

After Scarlett Johansson was cast as a transgender person in the film Rug and Tug in 2018 the casting decision was met with intense criticism. At first, Johansson defended her position by pointing out other cisgender actors and actresses who played transgender people, but then she exited the role. 

further reading

Halle Berry Pulls Out of Transgender Film Role After Backlash (Variety)

23 Cisgender Actors Who Played Transgender in Movies (Advocate)


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