UPDATE! 10:43 P.M. EST: Johansson’s rep released the following statement to Bustle from the actress herself:
“Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman‘s reps for comment.”
All three cisgender actors have played transgender roles to great acclaim.
Scarlett Johansson has clearly not learned from her Ghost in the Shell whitewashing controversy…
According to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, the 33-year-old will play Jean Marie Gill in Rub & Tug, described by the publication as “a drama about a real-life transgender massage parlor owner.” Coincidentally, Johansson is re-teaming with her Ghost director Rupert Sanders.
Related: Scarlett Johansson Defends Wearing Marchesa!
Jean Marie Gill, who was assigned female at birth, thrived in the 1970s and 1980s massage parlor and prostitution business by assuming the identity of a man, Dante “Tex” Gill.
The only problem? The new flick features a cisgender actress portraying a role that could’ve gone to someone who is actually transgender.
Back in 2016, Michelle Rodriguez faced similar backlash for her movie The Assignment, formerly (Re) Assignment. In the crime thriller, Rodriguez plays a male assassin who is forced to undergo sex-reassignment surgery, as if it was a punishment.
When Johansson’s casting news went viral, Twitter users were FURIOUS! See all the reactions (below):
scarlett johansson is gonna work with the ghost in the shell director AGAIN but this time she’s gonna play a trans man pic.twitter.com/G9BrZLbedF
— marÃa (@brujasescarlata) July 3, 2018
What the fuuuuucccckkk
Stop putting cis people in trans roles.
Stop putting cis people in trans roles.
Stop putting cis people in trans roles.
Stop putting cis people in trans roles.
Stop putting cis people in trans roles.
Stop putting cis people in t https://t.co/VUqxwYUrFX
— Gabriel D Vidrine – On Vacation (@MxEmber) July 3, 2018
You’re making a movie about a fat, Trans man who was a crime boss and Scarlett Johansson is the first name that comes to mind? Really? https://t.co/P3Vnb91HRp
— @red3blog (@red3blog) July 3, 2018
First the Japanese, and now Scarlett Johansson is taking on the trans community with her new film Rub and Tug. I can’t wait until her Rosa Parks film comes out. https://t.co/nbmoMkoNlN
— Valerie Vza Complex (@ValerieComplex) July 3, 2018
Scarlett Johansson is playing a trans man in her next movie because her ultimate career goal is to take an acting job from a member of each and every marginalized group.
— Faith Choyce (@faithchoyce) July 3, 2018
“scarlett johansson is playing a transgender man in a new film by the ghost in the shell director”
can we ban white cis people from making movies for the next millennia
— antonio ✨ (@guapitx) July 3, 2018
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.]
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