Lilly Wachowski calls for improved transgender representation in Hollywood
Wed. August 7, 2019 11:16 AM by OnTopMag.com
Lilly Wachowski, who co-created Sense8 and The Matrix movie franchise with her sister Lana Wachowski, has called on Hollywood to improve its representation of transgender people.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wachowski, who came out transgender in 2016, appeared over the weekend on a panel titled "The Power of TV: Trans Visibility in Storytelling" at the TV Academy's Saban Media Center in Hollywood. Steven Canals, co-creator of FX's Pose, and actress Alexandra Billings (Transparent) also appeared on the panel.
"We all have to break the fucking door down and tell our stories because it's about education. It's about having a voice," she said.
"All of the storytellers up here and all of the storytellers in this room, it's a part of this larger conversation that we're having when we're finding the language to talk about ourselves."
"As I was growing up all of the trans characters were played by cisgender actors; there was a faÇade and the characters lacked real depth... the characters I would see – John Lithgow playing trans in The World According to Garp – while it was lovely portrayal, there was an element missing," Wachowski said.
Wachowski is currently co-writing and co-showrunning Showtime's upcoming dramedy Work in Progress. The show follows a romance between a lesbian woman and a transgender man.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wachowski, who came out transgender in 2016, appeared over the weekend on a panel titled "The Power of TV: Trans Visibility in Storytelling" at the TV Academy's Saban Media Center in Hollywood. Steven Canals, co-creator of FX's Pose, and actress Alexandra Billings (Transparent) also appeared on the panel.
"We all have to break the fucking door down and tell our stories because it's about education. It's about having a voice," she said.
"All of the storytellers up here and all of the storytellers in this room, it's a part of this larger conversation that we're having when we're finding the language to talk about ourselves."
"As I was growing up all of the trans characters were played by cisgender actors; there was a faÇade and the characters lacked real depth... the characters I would see – John Lithgow playing trans in The World According to Garp – while it was lovely portrayal, there was an element missing," Wachowski said.
Wachowski is currently co-writing and co-showrunning Showtime's upcoming dramedy Work in Progress. The show follows a romance between a lesbian woman and a transgender man.
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