New Jersey: Hunter Schafer, the Euphoria actress, has declared that she no longer wishes to portray transgender characters on screen. Schafer rose to fame after portraying the transgender character Jules Vaughn in HBO’s hit teen drama. She said that she was able to go further as an actress if she didn’t focus on it as a focal point.
The actress stated that, “I worked so hard to get to where I am, past these really hard points in my transition, and now I just want to be a girl and finally move on.” According to Schafer, being called simply a ‘trans actress’ is ‘ultimately demeaning’ to her.
The American actress remarked that, “I’ve been offered tons of trans roles, and I just don’t want to do it. I don’t want to talk about it. I know for a fact that I’m one of the most famous trans people in the media right now, and I do feel a sense of responsibility, and maybe a little bit of guilt, for not being more of a spokesperson.”
“But ultimately, I really do believe that not making it the centerpiece to what I’m doing will allow me to get further. And I think getting further and doing awesome work, in the interest of ‘the movement,’ will be way more helpful than talking about it all the time,” Schafer added.
Several in the transgender community argue that transgender actors should be cast as trans characters in Hollywood films. It was reported that some actors apologised or expressed regret about taking on trans roles previously. Eddie Redmayne said in 2021 that he made The Danish Girl with the best of intentions, but it turned out badly.