Scarlett Johansson has responded to the backlash which has met the news that she has been cast in a transgender role in the forthcoming film Rub & Tug.
Johansson is set to play Lois Jean Gill in the movie, which is based on Gill’s true life story. Gill was assigned female at birth, but later assumed the identity of a man – Dante “Tex” Gill – and operated a massage parlour and prostitution business in Pittsburgh in the 1970s and 80s. Gill was later convicted of tax evasion in 1984, spending seven years in prison. He died in 2003.
Johansson’s latest role will see her reunite with Ghost In The Shell director Rupert Sanders. That film courted controversy over accusations of “whitewashing”, with Johansson playing Major Motoko Kusanagi in the manga and anime-inspired movie.
The news of Johansson’s casting as Gill has been met with protests, with online commentators arguing that the role should have gone to an actual transgender actor – see a selection of the responses to her casting below.
you should be too. why aren’t more people pissed about this? or mad about Rachel Weisz’s James Barry movie? two biopics in the works starring two major actresses that erase trans people. not okay.
— oliver whitney (@cinemabite) July 3, 2018
i’m no historian but a very brief google search turns up various written records that show both Gill and Barry referred to themselves/wanted to be known as men. not women in drag. do your research before you write a script.
— oliver whitney (@cinemabite) July 3, 2018
there are literally so many trans actors that could’ve been cast in this role. why do we keep casting Scarlett Johansson in roles where she doesn’t fit the criteria? https://t.co/nnD7PKH5Gc
— anthony amorim (@AnthonyAmorim) July 3, 2018
It seems like Dante Gill is a great figure for a biopic, especially since there seems to be very limited information about his story available at this time. But this seems like… a lot of failed research due diligence. Not sure they even know the story they’re telling here?
— Jordan Crucchiola (@JorCru) July 3, 2018
In an statement obtained by Bustle, Johanssson said via her representative: “Tell them they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”
That statement – which references prominent actors who have played transgender roles – appears to have further fueled the backlash against her casting in Rub & Tug.
Scarlett Johansson had to know there would be justified pushback on her playing a trans man in a new movie. But WOW at this "update."
Is she insinuating her right to a play a trans man is a White Feminist™ issue bc cis white actors have played trans women? I'm disgusted. pic.twitter.com/V0a43UAJu5
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) July 3, 2018
Yeah, I'm gonna avoid Scarlett Johansson movies moving forward after her response. Even if this topic were complex (and it's not: trans people should play trans people), flippantly dismissing concerns over this new role really says a lot about her views regarding trans people.
— Charlotte Clymer?️? (@cmclymer) July 3, 2018
Johansson last appeared in Avengers: Infinity War, in which she reprised her role as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. She will appear in the as-yet-untitled fourth Avengers movie, due for release next year.