Recently, Scarlett Johansson signed on to play real-life crime boss Dante “Tex” Gill in Rupert Sanders’ Rub & Tug, despite the fact that the real Gill—who died in 2003—was a transgender man. To make matters worse, Sanders also directed Johansson in Ghost In The Shell, in which she portrayed a character who was Japanese in the original anime. Then, just to make it all even worse, Johansson issued a snotty comment implying that she’s well aware the real Gill identified as a man and that she’s taking the role to try and win an Oscar.
Since then, a few transgender actresses have responded to Johansson’s casting in Rub & Tug, noting how hard it is for trans actors to get any jobs when cis-gendered actors take trans roles. Here’s Transparent’s Trace Lysette:
This is Jamie Clayton from Sense8, noting that trans actors never even get to audition for anything but trans roles, which is another big issue that needs to be addressed: