Hello, friends. My name is Charlie. I'm a cis male actor/singer living in Chicago. I've just been offered a role in a new musical here called Don't Mess With Bill that's about a FTM transgender jazz singer named Bill. I'm having a little trouble with the way the director seems to want to cast this thing.

See, the first role they offered me in this show is a cis man. That's the role I feel equipped to play. But they've also told me that if they can't find a trans man to play the eponymous Bill, they want to offer me the role. Not only do I feel that trans stories should be told by trans people, but I also don't feel that I have any life experience that could possibly inform my portrayal of a trans man, and I don't think I'd be able to do such a role justice. I told the director as much, and suggested he find a trans man to play the role.Well, as you might have guessed, it's a bit hard to find a trans man who's also an actor/singer and is the right actor to play a specific role. I don't think they're going to be able to find anybody--at least, they haven't found anyone yet.

Now, my personal feeling is that, if they can't find a trans man to play the role, they should look into casting a female-bodied genderqueer person, or a cis woman who has a masculine gender expression, before they think about casting a cis man. However, the director tells me that from his "conversations with the trans community," he has gathered that the people he's talked to would rather see a cis man in the role than a cis woman. What do you guys think? I'm not sure what to believe here, so I thought I'd turn to you for advice. Is he being honest with me? How would it make you feel to see a cis man playing a trans man, versus a cis woman or female genderqueer person?

First thing to understand, trans men are men, not women. Now think on this. If the one being portrayed were you, would you prefer a man or a woman to play your character?

This is a difficult one. Personally, I identify with being a guy. So I see myself as one and wouldn't mind being portrayed by a cis guy per se.

But then I'm thinking about what the audience sees. And I'm wondering, would they better understand what the trans* experience in society is like if they saw us portrayed by a pre-t transguy for example?

That would likely depend on the stage of transition the character is then. Personally, I'll stick with my response.

I totally get your point LordKat!

And I just wanted to add that in my opinion a cis woman would be the worst choice, because she could most likely relate neither to the trans* nor to the male perspective/experience.

Sorry if I am intruding here.

@ LordKat and Adrian, I agree with your points, and in short I think it all depends on the stage of transition of the character being portrayed.

However, at least for a pre-transition character, I don't think a cis woman will necessarily be a bad choice. e.g. Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry. (not sure what the opinion here is about that film, but it just came to my mind as an example) A cis man may be able to do as well in the role, but cis women need not be ruled out completely.

@ Charlie, having said this, it is also true that trans men are men, not women, and especially if the character you are being asked to portray is post-transition, then it makes no sense to have a cis female / feminine / genderqueer person playing the role. Even for a pre-transition character, the expressions, the feelings, the emotions would be male, not female, so there is no reason why you can't play the role. I would say you should find out more about what the role entails and then see if you are up for it, rather than deciding on the basis of labels.

Also, it is great to hear your opinion that trans roles should be played by trans actors. You might want to read https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,184076.0.html for a similar discussion.

Chuck, have you ever met a trans man? After he's been on Testosterone for a while, most likely he'll be indistinguishable from a cis man. He'll have a deep voice, broad shoulders, leathery skin, pattern baldness, coarse facial and body hair, and male style bulk.

It may be your director feels more comfortable portraying that role using someone whose physical presence has been shaped by testosterone rather than someone whose has not.

Make sense?

Personally I would feel a little insulted if a woman were cast for the role of a trans man. To an uneducated audience it would also send the message that trans men are "still" women just because their bodies were female at one time when we know this isn't the case at all. Simply put, trans men are and always were men so there shouldn't be a problem with a cis male playing the part in order to convey that to an audience.

Hi Chuck.

I recommend learning the part.

I know a few trans men and they are men.



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Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful responses. I was surprised at first, but I understand now why you would prefer to see a cis man playing the role over a cis woman. I also gather that my question has touched a nerve for some of you, and I want to apologize for any way in which my ignorance has offended you. I was concerned mostly about the feeling of gender dysphoria--I've never been anything but comfortable in my gender, and I thought that perhaps a female genderqueer person or a cis woman with a masculine gender expression would be more readily able to understand what it's like to have people tell you that your gender is/should be different from what you know it is. If I'm hearing you all correctly, though, it seems you're saying that your most primary concern is that the casting of this piece reflect the fact that trans men are, first and foremost, men.

Am I close?

Sorry I'm so clueless. I regret to say that I can count the trans men that I've personally interacted with on one hand, and I don't know any of them that well, so I can't claim to be very well acquainted with your community. Thank you for educating me.

Chuck,
Welcome to Susan's Family
So many topics to explore and posts to read or write.
Many article of news, wiki, links ,mine craft and chat
Safe passage on your path.
Je suis un être humain,
Hugs

Just out of curiosity, is the musical based on the Jazz musician Billy Tipton? If it is then I think that makes it even more essential to have a male, cis or trans, play the role of Billy since no one knew Tipton was biologically female until after his death.

Hi Chuck,

I don't think anything you said was offending in any way . (to me at least) It's awesome you're making an effort to learn more!

Regarding dysphoria, there are some threads here on Susan's where we discuss what it feels like for us, maybe this would be helpful for you. Dysphoria is very individual, so it can be different for every person.

I took no offense. I'm glad you chose to politely ask.

As to dysphoria, for me anyway. Imagine you are just yourself. You wake up in the morning, shower, go to work. On the way, everyone you meet talks to you and acts like you are a woman. No matter how much you know they are wrong, you dare not tell them. You have to act, like you are, who they think you are. You may not succeed but you dare not ever say the truth. They are blind and can't see you, they only see this thing that isn't you. You can't relate to them nor understand half what happens in their life like they think you can, but you must pretend.


Welcome to my hell for 48 years of my life.