Scarlett Johansson has admitted she ‘mishandled’ the backlash to her role as a transgender man, saying she was ‘uneducated’ about trans issues.
Last year, the 35-year-old was cast as Dante ‘Tex’ Gill in the drama Rub & Tug.
Jean Marie Gill was assigned female at birth, but assumed the identity of a man with the name Dante ‘Tex’ Gill while running a massage parlour and sex work business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1970s and 80s.
It was never confirmed that Gill identified as trans, but in an obituary run by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, according to the Hollywood Reporter, they wrote that Gill wanted to be known as Mr. Gill, and that ‘she may even have undergone the initial states of a sex change that made her appear masculine’.
There was major backlash to the casting – as Scarlett is a cisgender woman – but things got worse as her rep displaced the outrage to other cis actors who had played trans characters, saying: ‘Tell them they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.’
Speaking to Vanity Fair about the incident, Avengers star Scarlett said: ‘In hindsight, I mishandled that situation. I was not sensitive, my initial reaction to it.
‘I wasn’t totally aware of how the trans community felt about those three actors playing—and how they felt in general about cis actors playing—transgender people. I wasn’t aware of that conversation—I was uneducated. So I learned a lot through that process.’
ScarJo continued: ‘I misjudged that…. It was a hard time. It was like a whirlwind. I felt terribly about it. To feel like you’re kind of tone-deaf to something is not a good feeling.’
Following her rep’s statement about Rub & Tug, Scarlett told David Salle for As If: ‘You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.
‘I feel like it’s a trend in my business and it needs to happen for various social reasons, yet there are times it does get uncomfortable when it affects the art because I feel art should be free of restrictions.
‘I think society would be more connected if we just allowed others to have their own feelings and not expect everyone to feel the way we do.’
The actress did later acknowledge that there is a ‘widespread discrepancy amongst my industry that favours Caucasian, cis gendered actors and that not every actor has been given the same opportunities that I have been privileged to’, but maintained that ‘any actor should be able to play anybody’.
After memes about her playing every tree in movie history, Johansson withdrew from Rub & Tug, saying: ‘While I would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante’s story and transition to life, I understand why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person, and I am thankful that this casting debate, albeit controversial, has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film.’
The role of Tex has yet to be recast.
Scarlett is currently one of the frontrunners to land an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her performance opposite Adam Driver in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.
She is also currently starring in Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, while a Marvel spin-off for Black Widow is on its way.
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