Asia Kate Dillon has become one of the first non-binary gender identifying actors to be cast on mainstream TV. Dillon has been cast on Showtime’s Billions as Taylor, an intern at Axe Capital, in one of the first non-binary gender roles ever to be broadcast. Dillon uses the singular they pronoun for non-binary gender identification.
In addition to Billions, they can be seen playing Brandy Epps in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.
“As someone who is non-binary gender identifying, I feel a particular responsibility to portray members of my community on stage and on screen, not only as fully fleshed-out characters who are integral to the plot, but as characters whose gender identity is just one of many parts that make up the whole person,” Dillon told The Huffington Post.
Born and raised in Ithaca, New York, Dillon studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, graduating from the Studio Program. They then returned to Ithaca to complete the Meisner training program at The Actor’s Workshop of Ithaca (Dillon began during their junior year of high school at age sixteen, the youngest student ever admitted to the class). As an active alumni Dillon not only acted with the theater company, but also served as a teaching assistant and stage manager.
In 2011 Dillon took on the titular role of Rachel Corrie in My Name is Rachel Corrie. This role required Dillon to memorize over thirty monologues and play over seven alternate characters over the course of the one person show, which received rave reviews calling Dillon “absolutely magnetic.”
Dillon returned to New York City and was chosen from nearly one thousand actors to participate in a Workshop at The Flea Theater in Manhattan of fifty new plays by Tony and Academy award nominated and winning playwrights and directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar. This was followed by a featured role as Lucifer in The Mysteries, also directed by Iskandar. Following The Mysteries, Dillon traveled to Washington, D.C. to perform in The Tempest at The Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Billions premieres Feb. 19.
Ok, still confused. Does she/ Do they present themselves as Asexual or Pansexual? As non-Binary, does that mean that “they” are classified as someone who is like a Hermaphrodite; someone who is born with both sexes, and lives as such or are they just NON-SEXUAL ALTOGETHER? HELP ME PLEASE, I NEED TO UNDERSTAND, I’M OLD SCHOOL AND IT HAS TO BE DEFINED.
Gender and sexuality are considered two different parts of identity. I.e what sex you identity as and who you want to sleep with (or don’t) are two different things. Non binary just means they don’t identify their gender identity as exclusively masculine or feminine I.e, not within the gender binary. . They haven’t stated what their sexuality is so it’s safe to say it’s their business, but again that’s a different story and has nothing to do with their gender. “Hermaphrodite” is an outdated term (and considered affensive by those in that community) for intersex, which comprises a variety of conditions where a person is born with any variation of sex characteristics including hormones, DNA, and sex organs that are not exclusively male or female. Hope that helps. 🙂
So in real life is it a he or a she we are talking about?
Why do you need to know?
OMG
My name is BILLIE BLISs and thanks for explaining who and what I am. Until now,I could not find a way to say what I am.
I’ve had these feelings of a non- binary person from the age of five.
I am 77 years old now and tears come to my eyes knowing my way of life is shared with “others or, them”
We finally have a say as to who we are and I am willing to help out in anyway