Transface

There are probably over a hundred trans actresses and actors out there who can’t find jobs while parts for trans characters are being giving to non- trans actresses and actors.

The Advocate says,

Thanks to an era of burgeoning gender diversity on television and in independent films, a new crop of transgender actresses has emerged. They’re more capable of taking on trans roles, and as we movr toward gender identitThanks to an era of burgeoning gender diversity on television and in independent films, a new crop of transgender actresses has emerged. They’re more capable of taking on trans roles, and as we move toward gender identity becoming a nonissue, why shouldn’t they be considered for any female role?

They list sixteen actresses some of the actresses they say should be considered are Candis Cayne, Laverne Cox, Alexandra Billings and Rebecca Root. And I would like to add Michelle Hendley to the list.

Fusion has an article of what trans actresses have to say about Matt Bomer playing a trans woman,

7 actresses who are trans explain why casting cis actors in trans roles is a problem
By John Walker
August 30, 2016

…This is frustrating, as it typifies Hollywood’s ongoing issue of casting cisgender actors in trans roles—roles that could easily go to any number of capable, if lesser known, trans performers. Countless trans actors and actresses have already broken down why this trend is a problem. (They’re asked about it in literally every interview they give.) So, let’s revisit what Laverne Cox, Hari Nef, Mya Taylor, and four other actresses have already said over and over and over and over and over again.

1. Jen Richards (co-star, co-writer, and co-producer of Emmy-nominated web series Her Story)“What people have internalized through things like Eddie Redmayne playing [Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl] is [the idea] that a trans woman is really a man… Behind the character of Maura on Transparent, we see a straight guy, Jeffrey Tambor… Behind the Dallas Buyers Club‘s Rayon character, we see Jared Leto. That’s who the audience knows. So when we see this beautiful woman onscreen, we think, ‘That’s really Jared Leto. That’s really a man.’ That’s the attitude that gets internalized. So when…a straight guy sees me, is attracted to me as a woman…that triggers a crisis in him… He thinks everyone else is going to think [he’s] gay because to everyone else this trans woman is really a man, and this, in certain communities, leads to violence.” – CBC Radio One’s q

4. Hari Nef (recurring cast member on Transparent and IMG model)“I feel like the clock is ticking in terms of how long can these studios and these producers [can] really get away with casting cis people in trans roles when, like, I’m here… Laverne [Cox is] here. Trace Lysette’s here. Alexandra Billings is here. We’re all here, and we’re trans… We can come to set with years—months of lived experience that a cis actor would have to study for months and months and months… Yes, Jeffrey Tambor kills [the role of Maura on Transparent]. Eddie Redmayne’s a great actor and is fabulous in The Danish Girl… But at the end of the day, trans people deserve the opportunity to tell our own stories, and I hope, moving forward, we can see more of these castings.” — The Huffington Post‘s Queer Voices

6. Trace Lysette (recurring cast member on Transparent)
“Trans talent is not even making it into the audition room, and we’re not even being afforded the opportunity to tell our own stories. I feel that is problematic… If a cis person can be more trans than me, then so be it…but I strongly doubt it. Unless you have lived as a trans person and had to deal with the day-to-day struggles and experienced the cultural flavor specific to trans identity, then there is bound to be some inauthenticity there… Trans folk are so often pushed to the margins and not afforded the resources and opportunities that some nontrans people are. Anytime you give a trans person an opportunity, especially an opportunity to be ourselves, you are promoting a shift in the way society sees us.” — The Advocate

That is the thing; we are not even getting a chance to try out for the roles. We have an immense pool of talent; there are some who have been nominated for Emmy Awards like the show “Her Story” and Michelle Hendley who won the best actresses award at an independent film festival.

We are being blackballed and frozen out. You cannot say anymore that we are not known because trans actresses and becoming well known in the business. It is time that we stop making excuses about why trans actresses and actors are not being cast in movies… it is just simple discrimination.

I leave you with the trailer for “Boy Meets Girl,” you be the judge. Michelle Hendley does a fabulous job in the movie and you can see why she got the “Best Actress” award.