Trending 4th July 2018 by Helen O'Neill

Scarlett Johansson Speaks Out About Criticism Surrounding Her New Role As A Transgender Man

Her comment has received criticism as well

It was announced recently that Scarlett Johansson will be starring as Dante “Tex” Gill in new movie Rub & Tug. 

Fans were quick to criticise the casting and pointed out that Gill seems to have lived as a transgender man, not a cisgender woman like Johansson.

After fans asked the actress for a comment following the criticism, her rep spoke to Bustle from Scarlett herself:

Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”

Scarlett’s comment was pointing to the fact that other cisgender actors have played transgender roles to great acclaim — Huffman and Leto were both nominated for Oscars for their roles in Transamerica (2005) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013), respectively.

Jeffrey Tambor starred in the Amazon series Transparent which he has won a Golden Globe, 2 Emmys and A Screen Actors Guild for, yet he was fired this year following accusations of sexual harassment.

People have pointed out that while Scarlett’s comment calls out other actors that have done similar roles to her, it fails to see the point of criticism that transgenders should be given the opportunity to play these roles.

https://twitter.com/ira/status/1014331062946631680

Jeffrey Tambor previously advocated on behalf of trans actors during his acceptance speech after winning an Emmy for best lead actor in a comedy in 2016.

To you people out there, you producers and you network owners and you agents and you creative sparks: please give transgender talent a chance.”

Rub & Tug will be directed by Rupert Sanders, who previously worked with Johansson on 2017’s Ghost in the Shell which she also faced criticism for “whitewashing” the role as the character was originally portrayed as being Asian in the manga series.

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