Transgender and non-binary representation on screen has been growing in recent years. It’s a welcome change that hasn’t come easy, and we owe it not just to producers and writers pushing these stories into the world but also to the trans and non-binary actors stepping into the spotlight and sharing their stories.
Here are 10 trans and non-binary actors changing Hollywood today.
Bella Ramsey
Must-watch projects: The Last of Us (2023-present), Catherine Called Birdy (2022), Becoming Elizabeth (2022), Game of Thrones (2016-2019)
Most of us first knew of non-binary actor Bella Ramsey when they started stealing scenes in HBO’s Game of Thrones as little Lyanna Mormont.
They worked on a few excellent projects since then, but it was their fantastic performance alongside Pedro Pascal on the dystopian thriller The Last of Us that cemented their star status — and shut down more than a few online haters.
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Bella identifies as non-binary, describing they/them pronouns as “the most truthful thing” for them.
Elliot Page
Must-watch projects: The Umbrella Academy (2019-present), Tales of the City (2019), Inception (2010), Juno (2007)
Elliot Page has had plenty of iconic roles throughout the years, breaking into the scene in Jason Reitman’s Juno. In 2020, he came out as transgender.
“I love that I am trans,” Page wrote in a statement. “And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows, and the more I thrive.”
Asia Kate Dillon
Must-watch projects: Billions (2017-present), The Outside Story (2020), John Wick 3: Parabellum (2019), Orange Is the New Black (2016-2019)
After playing Brandy Epps in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon made history in Showtime’s Billions as Taylor Mason, who is considered American TV’s first non-binary character.
According to Dillon, the role helped them better understand their own identity. And it seems to have helped them find their voice, too: Dillon encouraged the MTV Movie & TV awards to create a gender-neutral acting category and even asked that their character in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum also be non-binary.
Brian Michael Smith
Must-watch projects: 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020-present), The L Word: Generation Q (2019), Queen Sugar (2017-2022)
Growing up seeing what he described as “zero representation of transmasculinity,” trans actor Brian Michael Smith actively promotes trans representation on screen and encourages LGBTQ+ youth to tell their own stories in media. He’s currently part of the board of directors at the Human Rights Campaign.
Smith has also been featured in People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive Issue twice.
“This level of recognition and visibility as a trans man is so important to me because, again, there is a concerted effort across this country and around the globe to legislate Trans and non-binary people out of existence,” he shared on Instagram. “But we are here, we are real, and we aren’t going anywhere.”
Emma D’Arcy
Must-watch projects: House of the Dragon (2022-present), Truth Seekers (2020)
The person who single-handedly increased global sales of the negroni sbagliato (with prosecco in it!), Emma D’Arcy is a non-binary actor who rose to fame as Rhaenyra Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon — a role that earned them a Golden Globe nomination for best actress.
They had described the nomination as “beautifully ironic,” explaining that they had initially felt an intense pressure to present as a woman to find success. It was when they finally stopped pretending, they said, that they got the Golden Globe nomination — even if it was for a gendered category.
“I think the most important thing is that, for me, it implies that the space for trans people and gender-nonconforming people is getting bigger all the time,” they said.
Liv Hewson
Must-watch projects: Yellowjackets (2021-present), Santa Clarita Diet (2017-2019), Let It Snow (2019)
As a non-binary actor with an ever-growing portfolio that includes Showtime’s Yellowjackets and Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet, Liv Hewson is living a dream that, at one point, they didn’t know was possible.
In an interview with A Beautiful Perspective, they shared about coming out as non-binary at 16, and having no idea how to be open about it professionally. “For ages, it seemed like a possibility so out of reach, it never really crossed my mind, because I felt like it was impossible,” they said.
Indya Moore
Must-watch projects: Pose (2018-2021), Saturday Church (2017)
At 28, Indya Adrianna Moore is a lot of things. They are a non-binary model, star of Ryan Murphy’s Pose, and one of TIME’s most influential people in the world.
They’re also a survivor of the troubled foster system and homelessness and has spoken about the struggle to survive and embrace their identity. In an interview with Elle, for whom they were the first trans person to be featured on the cover, they said, “I don’t know who I am outside of someone who’s just trying to be free and find safety for myself and for others.”
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
Must-watch projects: Loot (2022-present), Pose (2018-2021), Tick, Tick… Boom! (2021), Saturday Church (2017)
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez has acted in the theater, on film, and on TV, most notably alongside Indya Moore on Pose, where she led a largely Black and transgender cast as housemother Blanca Evangelista. The role helped her pave history as the first out transgender person to win a Golden Globe.
“This is the door that is going to Open the door for many more young talented individuals,” she wrote on Instagram. “They will see that it is more than possible.”
Elliot Fletcher
Must-watch projects: Y: The Last Man (2021), Shameless (2016-2018), Faking It (2016)
Elliot Fletcher, an actor who came out as a trans man at 17, chooses his roles very mindfully. In fact, his character, Sam Jordan on Hulu’s Y: The Last Man, is his fourth trans role.
“I want my characters to give a little insight into the transmasculine experience or the trans male experience,” he shared in an interview with Screen Crush. “Every character I play has a different trans experience, so every character I’ve played up until this point has been very, very different about themselves being trans.”
His vision, Fletcher says, is for every kind of trans experience to be seen on TV and film.
Lea Robinson
Must-watch projects: A League of Their Own (2022-present), Twenties (2021)
Lea Robinson, a transgender and non-binary actor whose first name is pronounced “Lee,” deserves a much longer acting resume than he currently has.
But the roles he has played have been impactful: Rev. Ty Harmon, a transgender reverend in Lena Waithe’s Twenties; and Bertie Hart, a happily married, home-owning, queer party-throwing trans man in the GLAAD Award-winning period series A League of Their Own.
Robinson has spoken about the power of visibility and storytelling in starting conversations about sexuality and gender identity and expression. “I pray and manifest every morning that Bertie and all the other folks in the show… impact someone, it moves someone,” Robinson shared. “Because that feels like, to me, success.”
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