All the times cisgender actors were cast as transgender characters

Over the weekend, transgender star Laverne Cox spoke out about the “fewer opportunities” for actors like herself in the entertainment industry. As part of the Black History Month conversation event at Macy’s in New York, Cox divulged the challenges she’s personally faced as a black transgender actor. “Two years ago . . . I was in the waiting room with actresses who were like, ‘Oh my God, this is my fourth audition today.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve never auditioned that much.’ There have never been that many parts as a black, openly transgender woman.” It’s worth noting Cox is arguably one of the most successful & famous openly transgender actors currently working in the industry. Although “there probably have been fewer opportunities” due to her identity, Cox considers herself to be “one of the lucky ones”. While discussing her experience in TV production, the Orange Is the New Black star revealed, “The question for me becomes . . . as I produce, how to bring other people along for the ride.” Cox later expanded her producing credits, hosted Billboard Women in Music in 2025, served as grand marshal for WorldPride DC, and announced a memoir titled Transcendent scheduled for 2026.

The debate surrounding cisgender actors in transgender roles

In the past few years, Hollywood movies have faced criticism from LGBTQI groups for taking on cisgender actors to play transgender characters. In 2013 there was Jared Leto as transgender woman Rayon in Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club, in 2015 the transgender pioneer Lili Elbe was played by Eddie Redmayne in Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl, and in 2017 Matt Bomer filled the role of transgender woman in Timothy McNeil’s Anything. A 2017 roundtable discussion published in Glamour highlighted the polarizing arguments on both sides of the debate about whether such castings are inappropriate. There are some who believe “the actor who fits the role best and has the most skill should” play a character, rather than casting simply “because someone's trans”. Meanwhile, the flipside suggests cis actors playing trans roles is an issue because “it's almost done in a way to make fun of the trans character or invalidate their identity.” The conversation has continued into later years. In 2026, HBO’s The Last of Us drew renewed criticism for casting another cisgender actor in a transgender role. Redmayne and his Danish Girl co-star Alicia Vikander later reflected on the earlier production, offering context that keeps the original debate points intact while showing how opinions evolved once the film entered wider circulation.

Transgender roles materialize as award winning performances for cisgender actors

Performances by cisgender actors as transgender characters often results in big award payoffs for the stars. In 2000 for example, Hilary Swank set the ball rolling when she won the Best Actress honor for her portrayal of transgender male Brandon Teena, whose identity was central to the reason he was raped and murdered. In 2014 Leto won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club as a transgender character with a tragic death. In 2016, Eddie Redmayne was likewise nominated for his performance in The Danish Girl – another transgender character with a tragic death scene. Interestingly, in 2016 Jeffrey Tambor won the Emmy for his portrayal as transgender woman Maura in Transparent for the second year in a row. However, Tambor used his speech to highlight the issue of cis actors playing trans characters. “Please give transgender talent a chance . . . I would not be unhappy were I the last cisgender male to play a female transgender on television.” Following allegations of sexual harassment, Tambor was fired from Transparent at the beginning of February. The series concluded in 2019 with a musical finale that addressed Maura without a cis-to-trans lead recast. Redmayne later expressed regret over taking the Danish Girl role, noting the limited opportunities available to transgender performers at the time.

Shifts in television and streaming representation

After the era covered in the original examples, television and streaming platforms expanded the number of transgender characters and increased the rate at which those roles went to transgender performers. The GLAAD 2024-2025 report documented 33 transgender characters across major platforms, with many portrayed by trans actors. Series such as Heartstopper, Kaos, and The Umbrella Academy featured trans performers in prominent storylines before those shows concluded. These developments show a measurable change in casting patterns on the small screen compared with the film-focused examples from 2013 to 2017, even as several of the series that advanced this trend reached their final seasons.

Reflections from original cast members years later

Actors who appeared in the earlier films discussed in the article have since offered public comments on those casting decisions. Eddie Redmayne stated in a 2021 interview that he would not accept the role of Lili Elbe today, describing it as a mistake tied to the absence of trans talent at the table during production. Alicia Vikander, who co-starred in The Danish Girl, told Variety in 2025 that the film already felt extremely dated a decade after release, while noting that it had at least opened discussion on transgender subjects. These later reflections do not rewrite the original award outcomes or the 2017 roundtable arguments, but they add context from the performers themselves.

Emerging examples of transgender actors in transgender film roles

Recent independent films have placed transgender performers in transgender parts, offering documented cases that contrast with the earlier studio examples. In 2025, Domaine Javier played trans woman Starling Smith in Another Day in America. EJ Jallorina starred as trans woman Diwa in Dreamboi, directed by trans woman Rodina Singh. These projects sit alongside other 2025 titles such as She's the He with Misha Osherovich. While these films operate on smaller budgets than the studio releases that drew the original criticism, they illustrate concrete casting choices that align the character and the performer’s identity.

Current state of major studio film representation

Quantitative data on major studio output places the earlier examples in a longer pattern. The GLAAD 2024 Studio Responsibility Index found only two transgender characters across 256 major studio films released in 2023. One of those characters was played by a cisgender actor. This figure marks a sharp drop from previous years and supplies a measurable benchmark for how limited transgender representation remains in wide-release studio cinema compared with the period examined in the 2017 roundtable. The numbers provide a factual frame for ongoing conversations about opportunity without replacing the specific historical cases already cited.