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One of the first – and only – trans TV stars in a leading role has spoken out about being a ‘pioneering’ actress, but shared her fears for the future in the industry, and on a personal level.
Rebecca Root made history in BBC sitcom Boy Meets Girl when it first aired in 2015, playing 40-year-old Judy alongside Harry Hepple and Loose Women’s Denise Welch.
Having previously starred in Eddie Redmayne’s The Danish Girl, she went on to hold roles in Sex Education, Heartstopper, Annika, and most recently, Monsieur Spade.
However, despite her range of film, TV, voice and stage acting, she’s opened up about her worry that there are few roles available for women her age, despite the increase in representation generally over recent years and success of the likes of the afore-mentioned dramas and hit shows like Euphoria.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, the 55-year-old said: ‘I get the impression that there is a lot more representation, [but] I suppose my one caveat is that I think a lot of the representation today seems to be from a younger generation of character.
‘I was in my mid 40s when I did Boy Meets Girl, and I felt that was in itself representation. I’m now 10 years older, and there aren’t so many parts for women of any gender in their mid-50s, but when you throw into the mix a trans woman in her 50s, you see far fewer roles out there, whereas, if you’re 20-something, and you’re kind of a starlet, then those are the sort of parts that you see a lot more of nowadays.
‘And I’m not diminishing or taking away from the success of those people who are taking those roles, because they need work like anybody does. But there is, it seems to me, a lack of parts for trans women my age.’
She went on: ‘And let’s not also forget, trans women are only one aspect of the trans community. We’ve also got a lack of representation with transmen and non-binary characters.
Rebecca Root is a pioneering actress and the first trans-woman in a leading role, BBC sitcom Boy Meets Girl (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)
‘And I think that’s also probably the next area which is going to have a moment in the limelight, and about time too, because I think people in society understand the idea of trans-ness, but when we start having conversations about non-binary identities, I think that often confuses people because they don’t necessarily understand what a spectrum is. So I think those identities need to have greater illumination.’
However, despite advocating for ‘greater illumination’, Rebecca worries the spotlight may be moving away.
According to this year’s GLAAD report, of 348 LGBTQ+ characters counted across streaming, scripted broadcast and cable programmes in America, there are 24 transgender characters (5.1% of all LGBTQ+ characters). This is a decrease …read more
Source:: Metro
