Trans in Film and Video 11/13/23

Great news! The actors strike is over! That means soon this column will be full of news about the latest roles in film and TV being filled with talented transgender actors. But, until those actors get cast we’ll make do with the following report.

Alexandra Billings

Alexandra Billings is an actress, producer, author, playwright and one of the transgender actors who cane to fame on-screen as Davina Rejennae in the Amazon series Transparent. Her other television work includes The Peripheral, Never Have I Ever, The Conners, and Disclosure. Now we learn that she is working on a musical destined for the Broadway stage. It’s called S/He and Me. The show spans five decades, from lows of drug abuse, prostitution and homelessness, to highs in marriage and being in the spotlight. It weaves together a coming-of-age story of lies, friends being swept away by the plague and captures Billings’ determination to  break boundaries and recognize her own power. The show will be presented in an industry workshop in March of next year and we’ll let you know when it’s ready for the Great White Way.

Spanish filmmaker Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s drama 20,000 Species of Bees follows an 8-year-old whose transition effects their family. The film is the first feature film for the. Spanish writer-director. The film looks at a family on summer vacation in Basque country. The boy Aitor (played by Sofía Otero) gradually over the summer begins to express more and more feminine traits and asks to be called Coco or Lucia. This makes life difficult for some members of her family. The star of 20,000 Species of Bees won the best acting prize earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival for her role in the film. Read a full review of the film in The Hollywood Reporter.

Annette Bening is the mother of a trans man and is a very committed advocate for transgender rights. She received the Advocate Award at the GLSEN benefit for LGBTQ students and said, “Most of my career, I’ve been a pretty private person … but over the last several years, I’ve changed my mind,” said Bening, explaining, “I have felt the responsibility to speak out and to speak up as transphobia has invaded our government at the local, state and federal levels. It is hurtful. It is shameful. And it is being used as a tool by the far right to rally their base and turn out the vote.”

Anjali Ameer

Indian actress Anjali Ameer, know for her work on Bigg Boss Malayalam agrees with Bening when it comes to supporting transgender people. Ameer is trans and has had to face discrimination and rejection in her journey. She said in an online exchange on her Instagram account she said, “If you have a transgender child in your home, please accept them. Otherwise their lives will be too painful. They will be laughed at in public and they would end up crying every night. Moreover, don’t give them fake love in life. Trans people are so sensitive after all the bullying and fake love in life. If a transgender easily gets committed to you, that doesn’t mean he or she has a bad character. It is just because they want to be in a safe place and have loving relationships in life. Please, understand this, if you cannot love them please leave them be the way they want to be. It’s a request.”

During the actor strike some production companies were able to keep the cameras rolling and have finished product completed. Hunter Schafer attended the Berlin premier of her new film Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. To make the event even more special Schafer wore a striking Schiaparelli couture dress from the house’s autumn/winter 2023 collection featuring a mosaic-style patchwork of painted tiles. Here it is.

Pedro and Lux.

For some time we’ve been hearing about Pedro Pascal’s transgender sister, Lux. She is also an actor and has starred in several Chilean TV shows and films as well as alongside her brother in Narcos. Earlier this month Pascal decided to share his sister with the public. The two of them attended the Gucci sponsored LACMA Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles on November 4. You can see photos to Lux and read an interview she did with the South China Morning Post. In pursuit of an acting career Lux earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Then in 2019, she enrolled in the MFA acting programme at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, and graduated earlier this year.

Season 4 of Canada’s Drag Race lands in The Great White North on Thursday, November 16. This season the judges panel will feature guest judges; Nelly Furtado (popstar), Tegan and Sara (indie duo), Winnie Harlow (fashion model), Luann de Lesseps (OG cast member of The Real Housewives of New York City), Jaida Essence Hall (RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 winner), Ra’Jah O’Hara (Canada’s vs. the World season 1 winner), Christian Allaire (Ojibwe writer) Rêve (singer-songwriter), and Sarain Fox (activist). The regular judges; Brooke Lynn Hytes, Brad Goreski, and Traci Melchor will be on board. Performing for the judges is a cast of 11 new queens consisting of Aimee Yonce Shennel, Aurora Matrix, Denim, The Girlfriend Experience, Kiki Coe, Kitten Kaboodle, Luna DuBois, Melinda Verga, Nearah Nuff, Sisi Superstar, and Venus. The winner will take home the grand prize of CAD$100,000 and get the prestige of being crowned Canada’s Next Drag Superstar!

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Tags: drag, featured, film

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment