On July 2nd, news spread that actress Scarlett Johansson would be playing the starring role in Rub & Tug, a movie telling the true story of a transgender man who ran a prostitution ring. The actress faced widespread backlash and controversy ensued as to whether or not it was right for a cis- woman to be cast for the role, while many trans actors have been struggling for years to get roles at all. On Friday, Johansson announced that she would be pulling out of the role “in light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding [her] casting as Dante Tex Gill,” the main character of the movie.
Many netizens have expressed approval of Johansson’s decision to pull out of the role, in hopes that the directors will cast a trans actor instead. Others have commented that discouraging cisgendered people from playing transgender roles reinforces the idea that transgender people shouldn’t play cisgender roles either.
However, the reality is that trans actors are almost never cast as cisgendered characters, and their opportunities are already limited to just trans roles, which are still are not the most prevalent in Hollywood.
Others have also criticized the backlash Johansson faced, saying that actors and actresses are meant to play roles they don’t match in real life, and that her already-established fame and success would have helped the movie do well, thus actually supporting the trans community more.
This is the second time the actress has come under fire over controversial casting. Johansson was cast as an Asian woman in 2017’s Ghost In the Shell.
Although Johansson is indeed commonly praised for her acting abilities, by taking the role of marginalized persons in movies does cause a lot more harm than it may seem. Members of the trans community and Asian Americans around the country look forward to seeing people similar to them on the big screen; however, when these roles are taken by cisgendered and/or white actors, they feel invisible and unheard.
