Breaking The Mold - Trans Actors

Those who follow my blog know that I am against transface and I get push back saying that there are no box office draw trans actresses/actors… Well here is my reply.

Clarice
Clarice is a deep dive into the untold personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling as she returns to the field in 1993, one year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs. Brilliant and vulnerable, Clarice's bravery gives her an inner light that draws monsters and madmen to her. However, her complex psychological makeup that comes from a challenging childhood empowers her to begin to find her voice while working in a man's world, as well as escape the family secrets that have haunted her throughout her life.

So who is playing in the prime time CBS drama?

According to IMDB...

Jen Richards ... Julia Lawson
2 episodes, 2021
- Silence Is Purgatory (2021) ... Julia Lawson
- The Silence Is Over (2021)

Wait! Jen Richards?

Isn’t she trans?

According to WPRI Channel 12...

Jen Richards’ character on Clarice is Julia Lawson who is a numbers genius who has found a quiet life working a lucrative corporate accounting job — until Clarice Starling knocks on her door asking for help with a dangerous case.

So she is playing a trans person… a trans person playing a trans person!

There are trans actresses and actors out there that can play in major television shows and movies! So don't tell me that there are no trans actresses and actors without box office draw.

Here is an interview that Dawn Ennis did for Forbes with Jen Richards.

And Dawn Ennis writes in a Forbes article...

CBS Tackles Transphobia In New Episodes Of ‘Clarice’

May 13, 2021

Thursday night on CBS, transphobia and the real-world troubles transgender people experience were explored in the serial crime drama, Clarice, spun-off from the Thomas Harris's 1988 psychological horror novel and the 1991 film adaptation upon which it is based, The Silence of the Lambs.

[…]

Julia is played by Emmy-nominated actor, writer and producer Jen Richards, who also worked as a consultant on the series. She co-stars with Emily Coutts of Star Trek: Discovery, who plays Julia’s cancer-stricken partner, Erin, and is the first to recognize the famous agent who solved the Buffalo Bill case: “This is her! It’s Clarice Starling.”

Stop right there… did you catch that? “Emmy-nominated actor, writer and producer Jen Richards, who also worked as a consultant on the series.”

“And this affected you personally?” a confused Clarice, played by Rebecca Breeds, asks Julia. The answer comes as a surprise to the ViCAP agent, when Julia explains, haltingly, breathlessly, why she must hide the fact that she is, in the words of the period, transsexual.

“I could lose my job. My life. I have to hide who I am because of stories like Buffalo Bill. And at the center of all of those was you,” Julia tells Clarice. “You made my life harder.”

Now tell me how a cis-gender actresses could know how to play a trans person coming out. We all remember the first time coming out to someone.

There are many talented trans actors who are just waiting for a part like this on their resume.