08 July,2020 07:36 AM IST | Mumbai | Agencies
Halle Berry
American actor Halle Berry has pulled out of the running to play a transgender character in an upcoming untitled film following a social media backlash. Over the weekend, the Oscar-winning actor said during an Instagram Live interview, that she would "probably" play a transgender man in her next film role. "[The film is about] a trans character, who transitioned into a man. I love that I might be playing it."
The news was met with a wave of criticism on social media with people highlighting the ongoing problem in Hollywood of a cisgender (people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth) actor playing a transgender person. Berry was also heavily criticised for identifying the gender of the character incorrectly during the interview.
On Monday, Berry apologised and tweeted that she was no longer considering the role. "Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and I'd like to apologise for those remarks. As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories," she wrote on Twitter.
She added, "I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera."
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Hollywood has a history of cisgender actors playing transgender characters, most recent examples being Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club and Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl. In 2018, Scarlett Johansson dropped out of Rub & Tug, the movie that would have seen her play a transgender man, after a similar backlash to Berry.
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