Well, that didn’t take long. Yesterday, news began to spread about an Instagram Live interview with Halle Berry where the actress spoke about her next film role, a performance that would find her playing a trans man. As I said in my piece about the potential role, the idea of Berry playing a trans person in a film was likely to draw heaps of criticism. And yep, that’s exactly what happened.
After a barrage of negative feedback about the possibility of Berry playing a trans man in an unnamed new film, it appears the actress has thought twice about the role and is pulling out of the project.
In a tweet, she wrote, “Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and I’d like to apologize for those remarks. As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories. I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera.”
The news of Berry leaving a project where she would play a trans man isn’t shocking, at all. This comes after Scarlett Johansson went through a similar situation more than a year ago. Johansson would eventually leave the project and the film would go on to be permanently shelved.
The only shocking thing about the fact that Berry left the film is that she was even considering it in the first place. With the current political climate and Hollywood’s commitment to being more inclusive and diverse with casting, in particular, it’s actually incredibly surprising that people would think Berry would be right for the role in any way. Eventually, the news would have surfaced that Berry took on the role, and the reaction would have been the same.
Long story short, there’s no way this film was going to be made with Berry in the lead. Let’s just wait and see if the film will move forward, or if Berry pulling out means the film will die a quiet death like the Johansson film last year.