Scarlett Johansson has officially backed out of playing the role of Dante “Tex” Gill in the upcoming film Rub & Tug.
“I have great admiration and love for the trans community and am grateful that the conversation regarding inclusivity in Hollywood continues,” she told Out. “While I would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante’s story and transition to life, I understand why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person, and I am thankful that this casting debate, albeit controversial, has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film.”
Thank you, ScarJo. But rather than delve deeper into that conversation we’re gonna follow up your statement with a list of five trans actors who should now be considered for the role.
Gill likely might have been happy at her decision. “I’d say it’s a toss-up, but I think it’s slightly more likely he would have liked to be played by a man because he identified as a man,” Gill’s cousin, Barry Paris, told The Wrap. “I’m sure he would have liked to have been played by a transgender man, but in his day that was very rare.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Here are five trans men we think could play the role of Dante “Tex” Gill in Rub & Tug:
1. Buck Angel
While most of Buck Angel’s acting work has been in porn, we still think he’s a fantastic candidate for the role. Since it seems the film will be portraying Gill’s life when he’s older, we think that Angel, 46, is age appropriate to be cast in the role.
2. Elliot Fletcher
At only 22, Elliot Fletcher may be too young for the role. However, the trans actor has already proved he is quite the talent, appearing in season 7 and then becoming a recurring cast member in season 8 of the hit TV show Shameless. In the Showtime series, he plays Trevor, a trans man who works for an organization that helps find homes for runaways and homeless teens.
3. Jake Graf
The director and filmmaker is known for his work behind the camera, however Graf does have a list of impressive acting credits under his belt, having appeared in The Danish Girl, Colette and Boys on Film.
4. Ian Harvie
We’re huge fans of the hilarious Ian Harvie, and would be super excited to see his name on marquees in the role. A comedian who got his big break opening for Margaret Cho, Harvie has proven he has quite the chops for acting, too, starring in Transparent, Mistresses and Young & Hungry.
5. Chaz Bono
Chaz Bono may be one of the most age-appropriate actors on this list to play Gill. Also, he already brings quite a lot of star power himself, having starred in many notable projects such as American Horror Story, The Bold and the Beautiful and oh yeah, he’s the son of Cher.
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DCguy
The problem with Bono, he can’t act. 3 others though seem right in the alright age range. Hell, at least give them an audition!
inbama
Actually, based on his work in “American Horror Story” and having been a lesbian, Bono probably could stretch enough to play a bull dyke/trans.
Then again, Lea DeLaria could do it falling off a log.
Either way, it needs to be a very low budget flick.
mz.sam
Any one of them would be perfect casting. Except Chaz would make a better new Bob’s Big Boy mascot.
Bromancer7
It’s laughable you think this movie is going to be made without a A-list star. All the trans community has managed to do with their protests and outrage is ensure this movie will either never be made, or made on a shoestring budget by a no-name director featuring a no-name actor and relegated to the festival circuit where no one will see it.
Visibility has to come before representation.
faymeproblems
Pose was made with no real star, was it not? How has that become such a success then?
jjose712
Pose doesn’t need a real star because the star is his director and producer.
And you are comparing tv with cinema, and they are not the same. On tv you have black and asian actors nominated for their roles for years, openly gay actors as stars of shows and openly gay directors and producers.
On films the things are very different, the oscars are very white and very straight every year
DCguy
Oh yes because Hillary Swank, Jeffrey Tambor, and Felicity Huffman were SUCH huge draws…..
Here’s a thought, WHY aren’t there trans stars that are major draws….maybe because Hollywood isn’t casting them in movies like this to give them a chance to get seen. Scarlet Johanson wasn’t always Scarlet Johanson. Somebody gave her that first movie role.
Rich85
As a gay man who has worked in the film industry I can concur that by dragging Scarlett Johansson for initially signing on to this film the trans community has effectively killed this film. Movie making is a for profit business, period the end. No investor puts money into a film production without hoping to make a profitable return on that investment. Scarlett Johansson is a high profile, internationally recognized movie star that would provide at least some guarantee to potential financiers. The people you mention here might very well be an excellent and worthy and politically correct choice to play “Tex”, but no one would finance a feature film with any of them as star. Perhaps as an indy budgeted cable film, but not a wide release feature. Tom Hanks portraying a gay man with in “Philadelphia” paved the way for more mainstream acceptance of gay characters on screen in big budget features, perhaps Ms. Johansson as a trans man might have done the same, but political correctness has won out and in doing so the trans community has lost out.
faymeproblems
Maybe it’s time the film industry changes, no? Tom Hanks played a gay man in 1993. It’s 25 years later. Also, this wouldn’t be the first time we saw trans on the big screen. Look at Dallas Buyer’s Club. The film will be made, they will cast a trans actor and I will be there opening night. What about you?
jjose712
Dallas Buyer’s Club had a straight high profile biological male in the role of the trans character. Not the best example
DCguy
As somebody who watches movies, how about the rest of us are tired of the self hatred of LGBTs in the movie industry who keep other LGBTs out of movie roles for B.S. made up reasons.
Roan
Good. Then maybe the people who make these decisions will begin to learn they can’t make money on the back of the LGBT community while maintaining LGBT actors as second class citizens.
man5996853
If Tom Hanks/Philadelphia paved the way for acceptance of gay men, shouldn’t Jarod Leto, Eddie Redmayne or Hillary Swank have paved the way for the trans community by now? The trans community doesn’t need another straight actor playing another trans character and more than we need another straight man playing a gay role . It’s been done to death and now seems to be the perfect time for the trans community to say enough is enough.
Greg
Tom Hanks portrayed a man afflicted with AIDS. Maybe the movie increased awareness of the disease, but I don’t think that movie paved the way for mainstream acceptance of gay characters. It was a court drama.
PatrickSoloAct
Dante “Tex” Gill was not a trans-man. She was a confident lesbian who never referred to herself as a man or expressed any desire to be one.
The transgendered have usurped a lesbian icon, with dishonest propaganda and we should not let them get away with it.
GentlemanCaller
Box office magic, those five. Honestly, do we want trans stories told and seen by the people whose hearts and minds need changing, or do we just want to have movies that go straight to streaming and are seen by sixteen LGBT folks? Movies like Silkwood, Brokeback Mountain, and Call Me By Your Name did the heavy lifting of raising acceptance for gay men and lesbians, and none of the actors in those very gay roles were gay. But the actors did their acting job convincingly, and people went to see those performances, and it had an impact. Johansson might have had a similar effect. But now the filmmakers have been so spooked by political outrage this story may never be told. Good work.
some_charge
Actually Call Me By Your Name actors refused to do a part of their acting job, and that’s why the scenario was straight-washed and PG-13d, so bad example…
Kathy Green
“Honestly, do we want trans stories told and seen by the people whose hearts and minds need changing, or do we just want to have movies that go straight to streaming and are seen by sixteen LGBT folks?” -> Agree!
qlm
Why not give the “Role” to the Best “actor/actress” who can “portray” the “character” as they are meant to be portrayed. Are we supposed to stop lesbians from accepting straight roles, Transgender can only portray Trans, Gay can only accept gay roles. the point is an Actor embodies a Character on screen, a good Actor can be anyone given makeup, basic body type, and ability. and what is this with Andy Serkis taking all the good roles for Apes, Chimps, and Gollums.
thewalrussaid
I guess my question about their casting choice was who was the person the film is going to be about. If I remember correctly, the person was from the 70s. Did they take hormones or did they just identify as trans. If they didn’t take hormones and transition, then a trans man who transitioned isn’t appropriate for the part, a woman is.
Kangol
I vote for Buck Angel. He’s a transman, has screen presence, and could become a breakout star.
faymeproblems
all of the people listed are trans men…
theafricanwiththemouth
I’ll actually like Chaz Bono for this role because i loved his role in American Horror Story : Cult, he did a great job.
BUT, fact still remains, Scar Jo would have probably done a much better job of given this film the visibility it so desperately needs, not any of these actors.
Those actors who played huge trans roles aren’t just plain d-list Cis actors. They are stars. So these trans roles weren’t just given to any Cis actor, they were given to A-list actors for a reason. To pull the crowd to come see an unconventional tale that would have otherwise not gotten past a film festival.
Still, i hope for the best for this project (if it gets made..)
jjose712
I think trans stories are destined to be just small indie films, probably by trans directors.
For a studio films just don’t pay the effort. Those movies are not going to be box office darlings and the projects will receive a lot of backlash.
I doubt any big name want to be attached to that kind of project anymore
Wolfie
The only problem is that Gill was a BUTCH CROSSDRESSING LESBIAN and NOT TRANS. She was a physically biological intact woman who dressed as a man. She was not a trans man.
jjose712
True, but nobody seems to care about being realistic. The director say that he would be a trans male if he lived today but the problem is Gill didn’t lived today so we really don’t know
AlexEf
Who cares anymore? The real person and their story has been hijacked by trans-male-to-female activists already.
PatrickSoloAct
Thank you! Someone else recognizes the despicable thing that the transgendered community has done, usurping a lesbian icon.
The fact that she dressed as a man is irrelevant. I know a TON of lesbians who dress in traditional male clothing and wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress. That doesn’t make them transgendered.
There is no record of Dante “Tex” Gill ever identifying herself as a man or making any statement to the effect that she wished she was one. She was a proud lesbian, not transgendered. And we need to boycott this garbage unless they cast a lesbian, not a transgendered.
Lacuevaman
I think Ms. Johansson would have been great. There’s a reason it called ACTING!
SpacemanSpiff
So we should be concerned about the gender pay gap and then applaud a woman being bullied out of a well-paying job in favor of a biological male?
Jack Meoff
This film probably had backing based on the casting of an A list star. If they cast someone who is not as well known outside of the gay/trans community then the backers will probably pull out or reduce their commitment. I don’t see this film getting made any time soon without an A lister or maybe made for TV instead.
tham
The movie might get made…but…if I don’t come on queerly for a week, I might not know it did.
JessPH
So how will any of these “men” portray the character prior to his/her transition?
Kathy Green
I totally agree. If, for example, a film about Buck Angel was made, I would say that Scar Jo looks much more similar to Buck Angel’s previous self than Buck Angel does now.
tazz602
Five transgender people who never ever deserve to play a cisgendered male or female!! That’s how stupid this controversy was.
PatrickSoloAct
Good point. (By the way, very handsome, too.)
Roan
If there’s anything I’ve learned from QUEERTY, it’s that the worst racism and transphobia directed at our community comes from gay men.
JoeyRamone
Yeah, right the worst. Try taking this crap out to Trump country, not to mention Russia, the Middle East, and Evangelical circles world wide.
None of these people above can act, although I’m sure there’s a trans actor somewhere deserving a breakout performance. It will be a low-budget affair and no one will see it, but hey, gotta start somewhere I guess.
Personally, I’d see the film with any really talented and trained actor, str8, gay, trans, or not.
PatrickSoloAct
That is incorrect. Gay men are actually the biggest victims of homophobia in the entire LGBT community. Gay men are, by far, the victims of the most frequent anti-LGBT hate crimes. And attacks on them tend to be the most violent.
Despite this, gay men, especially gay white men, also receive the worst homophobic treatment from within the community. In fact, many LGBT organizations refuse to allow gay white men to hold any position of authority, because they are the most “privileged.”
Yeah, right. The most frequent and most violent victims of hate crimes, and we’re so privileged.
theafricanwiththemouth
This comment is ignorant and exaggerated.
I hope you include yourself among those gay men who are racists and transphobic as your fallacious comment implies. Seeing as you can compare the treatment from gay men in the community to the even worse and more violent world wide treatment of the LGBT community.
(Also, bug off creepy Q admins, jeez!).
theafricanwiththemouth
This is a reply to you @Roan
Roan
No, I don’t include myself because I’m not racist or transphobic like some of the people here in this forum. The moderator cleaned up the comments. However, when I wrote this, there were many negative and harsh comments, and typically they collect on the trans posts, the drag posts and the race/racism posts. It’s reflective of the abuse that marginalized groups within our own community receive from others within the LGBT community. In my opinion, that makes it worse than the abuse we expect to receive from Trump et al. It’s shameful. I stand by my comment. If you are triggered by it, perhaps you have some reflecting to do.
theafricanwiththemouth
@Roan, whether it’s shameful or whether it’s shocking that there are folks within the LGBT community who treat each other poorly does not change the fact that your comment is a gross and messy exaggeration.
People are being murdered around the globe for being LGBT, yet you feel you can compare that to a group of LGBT folks who treat each other horribly? Even based on this comment section before it got cleaned up, it still doesn’t compare to the horrors of LGBT folk around the world.
You can stand by your comment for all i care. Won’t change the fact that it’s a lopsided, fallacious, corny and messy generalization of a large group of people, using minute data or knowledge.
Keep standing by it.
And by the way, you do fall right in with those racist and homophobic gay men since you can so easily judge and generalize a whole group of people, based on the “comments you’ve seen on queerty”. Please, do keep standing by that comment.
Roan
@theafricanwiththemouth
TL;dr I see you are triggered. Good. Perhaps you will look inward and see that we have work to do.
theafricanwiththemouth
Call it what you want to… Doesn’t matter, your comparison is off.
loren_1955
Elliot Fletcher, a fine looking man, great actor. Loved his portrayal on Shameless.
ShowMeGuy
Elliot Fletcher rocked it on The Fosters, too. We will see great things from him for a long time to come…..but this film under the best of conditions would not be one of them.
oldpluto
So many great comments up there but, folks, I have to agree with those who share the idea that we are talking the “business” part of show business. Remember the Christine Jorgensen Story? Probably not because it was made with an unknown and for a cheap budget? Movies multi-million budgets are not the same as tv budgets. You want to see the story seen by a few with a skimpy production value? Keep pushing for an unknown (relatively) actor in the role. You want a .provocative, first rate.-budgeted, film to help change people’s minds about the subject matter? Be happy they cast a “star” who can sell the film. You talk about a straight Tom Hanks playing an HIV-riddled gay man? He may have been instrumental in more films about lgbt people being made. Reality is movies are about making money and then possibly changing hearts and minds.
OzJosh
The problem with listing other (alleged) trans actors to replace Johansson is that it displays zero understanding of how the film business works. Aside from being an excellent actress with 20+ years experience, Johansson is a bankable name. That means she would generate the finance necessary to actually make the film. She would be a lynchpin for a marketing campaign that would sell the film. And her name alone will put enough bums on seats to provide some kind of guarantee that the project will make money. None of these virtually unknown trans actors will do any of those things. Nor will a curiosity like Chaz Bono (who is in no way right for the role anyway).
PatrickSoloAct
I’m completely disgusted with the LGBT community over this issue.
First, they bullied a talented actress out of a role she deserved and would have done well in, an actress who, as far as anyone knows, never thought, said or did any harm whatsoever to the LGBT community.
Second, the transgendered, in keeping with their bullying tactics, have usurped a lesbian icon. This is why there are TERFs and why, arguably, the LGBs need to start distancing themselves from the Ts.
Dante “Tex” Gill was NOT transgendered; she was a confident and proud lesbian. There is no record of her every referring to herself as a man or wishing she was one. Referring to her as transgendered is a lie.
If a transgendered person gets this role, I will boycott do everything in my power to ensure that everyone knows that Dante “Tex” Gill was a lesbian, not a transgendered, and that this movie is nothing but revisionist propaganda.
I think the role should be offered again to ScarJo, although, since that is an unlikely scenario, I think the role should go to a lesbian actress.