Scarlett Johansson responds to criticism for being cast as transgender in upcoming movie Rub & Tug

Scarlett Johansson has issued a statement after receiving flak regarding playing the role of a transgender in her newly-announced movie, Rub & Tu g, directed by Rupert Sanders. The 33-year-old actor is set to portray Jean Marie Gill, who succeeded in Pittsburgh’s 1970s and 1980s massage parlour and prostitution business by assuming the identity of a man, Dante ‘Tex’ Gill. [caption id=“attachment_4439505” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Scarlett Johansson/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Soon after the announcement, fans and critics pointed out that Gill seems to have lived as a transgender man, not a cisgender woman like Johansson. The _Avengers: Infinity War_ star also faced criticism in response to her casting as a Japanese human-cyborg in Ghost in the Shel l, which many fans perceived as whitewashing. When asked for comment, the representatives for the actor told Bustle, “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.” Johansson’s statement alludes to performances by - Tambor, Leto and Huffman, fellow cisgender actors who have played transgender characters on screen. Tambor played a trans woman named Maura in Transparent, a show from which he was fired after facing allegations of sexual harassment, which he has denied. The actor, who scored an Emmy for best lead actor in a comedy in 2016, has earlier called to “please give transgender talent a chance”. Huffman and Leto were both nominated for Oscars for their roles in Transamerica (2005) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013), respectively. The publication reached out to New Regency and 20th Century Fox for comment on Johansson’s statement, but did not receive an immediate response.