Yahoo Lifestyle Halle Berry backs out of transgender film role after backlash
Actress Halle Berry has issued an apology following backlash after she showed interest in playing a transgender man in an upcoming film.
In an Instagram Live recently, Halle said she had been preparing for the role, despite not being officially cast.
“[It’s] a character where the woman is a trans character, so she’s a woman that transitioned into a man. She’s a character in a project I love that I might be doing,” she said. Halle added that she wanted to take a “deep dive” into “that world,” believed to mean the trans community.
However, the Catwoman actress faced backlash after fans called for a transgender actor to play the role. Halle also misgendered the character more than once in the interview, saying: “Who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project."
A post shared by Halle Berry (@halleberry) on Jul 4, 2020 at 12:19pm PDT
The 53-year-old has since apologised, saying: “the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.”
She wrote on Twitter:
“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.
“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.”
— Halle Berry (@halleberry) July 7, 2020
Organisations such as GLAAD have welcomed her apology, and called for trans representation in the media.
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