BBC Unveils First Look At Trans Coming-Of-Age Series ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl’; Cast Features Ellis Howard, Laura Haddock & Hannah Walters

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has revealed the cast and first-look images of What It Feels Like For A Girl, the adaptation of the memoir by transgender trailblazer Paris Lees.

The eight-part series will land on BBC3 and iPlayer later this year, featuring a cast led by Ellis Howard (Catherine the Great) who plays Byron, a working-class school kid who escapes a small town for Nottingham and discovers more than just the hedonistic world of the noughties clubbing scene.

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Lees said: “The biggest challenge was always the lead role – we’re following someone who’s going from, in the eyes of the outside world, a schoolboy, right up to a trans woman starting university, and all that’s in between. The moment I saw Ellis, I recognised something in him – a cheekiness, a delicateness, a complexity – and knew he was the one. And he rose to the challenge, again and again.”

Other cast includes Hannah Walters (A Thousand Blows), Laura Haddock (The Recruit), Michael Socha (Showtrial), Laquarn Lewis (Jamie Johnson), Hannah Jones, Adam Ali (Waterloo Road), Alex Thomas-Smith (Too Much), Calam Lynch (Sweetpea), Jake Dunn (Renegade Nell), and Dickie Beau (Bohemian Rhapsody).

Here’s the logline: “Life explodes in a rush when Byron escapes to Nottingham’s vibrant underworld, discovering a realm of drink, drugs, and a chaotic family of troublemakers: The Fallen Divas. Byron finds a gang of kindred spirits in the mesmerizing Lady Die (Lewis), Sticky Nikki (Thomas-Smith), Dirty Damian (Ali), while an intense rivalry brews between Byron and the beautiful, acid-tongued Sasha (Jones).

‘Between them, they beg, steal and skank their way on a rollercoaster ride of hedonism at the heart of the UK’s early 2000s club scene. The party can’t last forever though, and when Byron is seduced by bad-boy Liam, a shocking encounter occurs that will change life forever.”

Further cast includes Emma Shipp (Rivals), Sekou Diaby (Boarders), Laura Checkley (Screw), Oliver Huntingdon (Sherwood), Lorn Macdonald (Bridgerton), and Rhys Connah (Happy Valley). There are also guest appearances from Fay Ripley (Cold Feet) and Selina Mosinski.

Made by Mary & George producer Hera Pictures in association with ITV Studios, the series was written by Lees alongside Georgia Christou, Paul Williams, Sarah Simmonds, and Mika Onyx Johnson. Brian Welsh (Black Mirror) is the lead director, while Ng Choon Ping (Femme) and Marie Kristiansen (Delete Me) also direct.

Executive producers are Lees and Welsh; Liza Marshall and Ron O’Berst for Hera Pictures; and Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC. Frances du Pille (The Sixth Commandment) is the producer. ITV Studios is handling international distribution.

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