Scarlett Johansson is Playing a Transgender Man and People are Going Nuts

Caleb Tolin | July 5, 2018
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Scarlett Johansson is playing a transgender man in the new movie “Rub & Tug.” She will play Dante “Tex” Gill, who was born Jean Marie Gill, but identifies as a man.

And, of course, someone had to be pissed off - so trans activists took that responsibility on themselves and are saying that this is stealing their narrative -- whatever that means.

People on Twitter literally lost their minds over the fact that she accepted this transgender role.

The media even came after Johansson, providing lists of trans actors that should've gotten the role instead of her.

Johansson’s PR team has released a statement to Bustle that reads, "Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman's reps for comment."

All of those cisgendered actors have played transgenders in a variety of films and television shows including Transparent series, Dallas Buyers Club, and Transamerica. They were all recognized either by being nominated for an Emmy or an Oscar.

Despite all of the negative pushback, several people have come out behind Johansson in support of her and her career move.

(Warning: Explicit Language)

This isn’t Johansson’s first run in with controversial casting. Johansson was cast in the movie Ghost in the Shell which was based off of Japanese manga and anime and would be traditionally played by an Asian.

 

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