In a conversation with HuffPost Live today, trans actress and model Hari Nef said that “some recognition is always better than no recognition,” when it comes to the depiction of the transgender experience onscreen, but she hopes to see more trans individuals telling their own stories.
Nef: “I feel like the clock is ticking in terms of how long can these studios and these producers really get away with casting cis people in trans roles when like, I’m here. Laverne [Cox]’s here. Trace Lystt’s here. Alexandra Billings is here. We’re all here — and we’re trans. We can come to set with years, months of lived experience that a cis actor would have to study for months and months and months.”
Which she said isn’t to take away from the stellar performances actors have given in trans roles as of late in film.
Nef: “Yes, Jeffrey Tambor kills this role [in ‘Transparent’]. Eddie Redmayne’s a great actor and is fabulous in ‘The Danish Girl,’ and I feel like these are roles that are being given to great actors. But, at the end of the day, trans people deserve the opportunity to tell our own stories, and I hope, moving forward, we can see more of these castings.”
Video: HuffPost Live
