Halle Berry withdraws from transgender role, apologises after backlash: Vow to promote better representation

Hollywood star Halle Berry has apologised and pulled out from playing a transgender character in a movie following criticism on social media.

The 53-year-old actor had spoken about the role during an Instagram Live interview.

“(The film is about) a character where the woman is a trans character, so she’s a woman that transitioned into a man,” Berry said in the interview with hairstylist Christin Brown.

“She’s a character in a project I love that I might be doing.”

The announcement was followed by severe social media backlash with many people highlighting the issue of cisgender actors playing transgender roles in Hollywood.

Berry apologised on Monday night and tweeted that she was no longer considering the role.

Here is her tweet

pic.twitter.com/qpE8Tw1Xmu

— Halle Berry (@halleberry) July 7, 2020

Hollywood is waking up to criticism when it comes to trans representation onscreen. In the past, cisgender actors have played trans characters be it Jared Leto in _Dallas Buyers Clu_b or Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl.

In 2018,  Scarlett Johansson was cast to play Dante Tex Gill, a transgender man, in Rupert Sanders’ Rub and Tug. She dropped out from the role after owing to severe backlash from the LGBTQ+ community.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)