Susan's Place Transgender Resources

'You Don't Look Trans Enough

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/you-dont-look-trans-enough_us_57df1bfde4b0d5920b5b2f1d?utm_hp_ref=transgender

The Huffington Post/By Dana Aliya Levinson

 09/18/2016 07:24 pm ET | Updated 1 hour ago

I think a major reason for trans actors not being cast for trans roles is the bankability factor, whereas casting directors would rather cast a well known actor instead of an unknown actor, because they want to increase profit margins.

Quote from: kittenpower on September 19, 2016, 11:31:04 AM
I think a major reason for trans actors not being cast for trans roles is the bankability factor, whereas casting directors would rather cast a well known actor instead of an unknown actor, because they want to increase profit margins.

I think a bigger one is that trans people are still seen as "other," and studios are very reluctant to present perspectives different from the ones they always done.  Same problem with minority actors (anybody ever see "The Hollywood Shuffle"?), same with gay and lesbian themes in stories.  A trans hooker who looks like a man in a dress (or some hyperfeminized man) is okay as a plot point character, as long as she dies by the end.  But not as a real human being.  A trans actress (or actor, let's not leave the T-guys out) who looks like a normal person and plays a character who lives a more or less normal life is simply too unconventional and scary for the studios to deal with.