American actress Halle Berry has announced that she is no longer playing a transgender male in an upcoming film, following criticism on social media.
In a statement released on Twitter, Berry apologised and admitted that she should have not “considered this role” in the first place.
Her statement read:
“Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and I’d like to apologize for those remarks. As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.
“I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and I will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake.
“I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera.”
The statement comes after Halle Berry had revealed that she is considering playing “a character where the woman is a trans character” during an Instagram Live interview on Friday with hairstylist Christin Brown.
“I’m thinking of [playing] a character where the woman is a trans character, so she’s a woman that transitioned into a man,” she said.
“She’s a character in a project I love that I might be doing.”
“I want to experience that world, understand that world. I want to deep dive in that in the way I did Bruised,” she added, referring to her upcoming sports film.
“Who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project, and that will require me cutting all of my hair off.”
Berry was accused of misgendering the character by repeatedly referring to them as a woman, and many said the role should go to a trans actor.
After her apology, LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD said they were pleased that Berry listened to the concerns of the community and also urged other “powerful people” to do the same.
“We are pleased that @halleberry listened to the concerns of transgender people and learned from them. Other powerful people should do the same. A good place to start is by watching @Disclosure_Doc to learn about trans representation in media.”
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