Hilary Swank Reflects on ‘Boys Don’t Cry Role’: Actors portray a variety of roles, leaving their own selves while immersing themselves in the characters. Indeed, it’s a testament to all those versatile actors who deliver varied performances. However, while their versatility is commendable, it’s also an age-old debate about why actors often take on roles that differ from their personal identities or backgrounds when certain roles should be reserved for actors with specific characteristics or experiences.
This debate is particularly relevant to the trans community, where trans roles are often portrayed by cisgender people, denying trans actors the opportunity to tell their own stories.
Actress Hilary Swank, who won an Oscar Trophy for her performance in Boys Don’t Cry as Brandon Teena, reflected on her role and addressed whether she would take on the transgender role now. The actress shared her opinion on the evolving understanding of transgender issues and concluded that she would not consider starring in the movie now.
Hilary Swank’s opined on the current status of trans people in film industry
In 1999, Hilary Swank appeared in a biographical film, Boys Don’t Cry. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena (played by Swank), an American trans man who was murdered in a hate crime. For her portrayal of Teena, Swank was honored with the Academy Award for Best Actress. Recently, while speaking with The Times of London, Swank discussed the significant changes in attitudes towards transgender people since the film’s 2000 release. The actress acknowledged the shift in perspective regarding who should portray transgender characters in the film.
This topic has been a debatable one in the industry, as even trans roles are played by cisgender people. Swank said,
“Now for the most part, in most places, it’s accepted to be a trans person. [But] at that time, people weren’t even coming out as gay and lesbian, it was a career killer, or whatever. They weren’t ready to tell their family, or maybe they weren’t even ready to tell themselves. We’re in such different times — I feel like it would be a great opportunity for an actor who’s trans to play that role.”
Swank, being an opinionated woman, strongly expressed her belief that anyone should be allowed to play any role, regardless of their own gender identity. She continued: “But I also feel like actors are actors. We are supposed to play different people, and I would like to hope trans people are getting the opportunity to play non-trans people as well.“
As Swank mentioned, people’s perspectives and attitudes toward the trans community have certainly evolved with time. They have received their deserved opportunity in Hollywood, but that doesn’t cease their struggle yet. A few months ago, the BBC revealed that they had received several complaints following the introduction of the transgender character Rose in one of Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary episodes.
In fact, the subject of portraying a transgender character is also something that has been under more scrutiny in the last several years. In 2020, actress Halle Berry received a role where she was supposed to portray a trans woman, but she voluntarily chose to walk away from the role to allow the transgender community to have “the opportunity to tell their own stories.”
Like Swank, there are other cisgender actors as well who have reflected on past roles where they have played transgender characters. This included Eddie Redmayne, who appeared as transgender painter Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl. The actor was heavily criticized for taking on the role, and he even shared that any actor should be able to play any role, which echoed Swank’s statement. In addition to that, Redmayne emphasized that “a leveling” is required before that can happen. He told The Guardian in January:
“A few years ago, I did a workshop with trans actors at the Central School of Speech and Drama. A lot of them were quite rightly interrogating me about my choice to do The Danish Girl, and pointing out that many trans actors don’t go to drama school because they don’t see it as an opportunity. Unless there are parts that you think are possible for you to play, why would you? I believe everyone wants to be able to play everything. That’s what we dream of as actors and should do. No one wants to be limited by their gender or sexuality but, historically, these communities haven’t had a seat at the table. Until there’s a leveling, there are certain parts I wouldn’t play.”
Recently, several trans actors have landed breakout roles, marking a gradual shift toward casting transgender stars in leading roles. These have included Yasmin Finney’s role in Heartstopper (which was followed by her role as Rose in Doctor Who), Ian Alexander becoming the first trans actor to play a trans character in the Star Trek franchise, and Jamie Clayton following up her role in Sense8 by taking the lead role of Pinhead in the reboot of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser.
