Daniela Vega

 From "GayTimes"

"Daniela Vega received critical acclaim for her performance in A Fantastic Woman as young trans woman Marina, a singer and waitress in Santiago whose older boyfriend dies unexpectedly. With its win for Best Foreign Language Film, A Fantastic Woman made history as the first Academy Award-winning film to feature a transgender storyline with an openly transgender actor in the lead role. In 2018, Vega also became the first transgender person to present at the prestigious ceremony. In an interview with The Guardian, Vega said of the relationship between the transgender community and the Republican Party (trust us when we say, it’s a finger-wagging moment): “It actually gives me a physical pleasure to annoy conservatives. I don’t have to be violent, I don’t have to insult anyone – my mere existence shakes those people up.”

Charmed is Trans

 On the CW television network, the "Charmed" show has added another transgender character.

From the "Deadline" site:

"Actress Mareya Salazar is about to bring some of her magic to Charmed. The trans actress is set to join The CW series in a recurring role for the reboot of the spellbinding series. The timing of the news couldn’t be any more perfect considering its Transgender Day of Visibility — and we love to see Salazar join the cast.

The casting marks the second transgender actor to join this season. In November, Deadline exclusively broke the news that JJ Hawkins joined the cast in the recurring role of Kevin, a transgender male college student who inspires one of the Charmed Ones to take on a very formidable opponent. With Salazar and Hawkins, Charmed continues to move the needle when it comes to bolstering authentic representation of the trans community."

Perhaps the day is coming we won't  have to mention an actress is transgender at all. They will  just become actors or actresses.

Jen Richards

Jen Richards is a transgender writer, actress, producer and activist.

Oscar Time?

Daniela Vega, 28, stars in Sebastian Lelio's A Fantastic Woman. She plays Marina, a transgender woman whose partner (Francisco Reyes) dies, after which Marina is subjected to harsh treatment by the family of her deceased lover and by police investing the death.

Chile has selected the film as its Academy Awards submission this year and Variety called her performance "a multi-layered, emotionally polymorphous feat of acting," that deserves "so much more than political praise." While several transgender musicians have been nominated for awards, Vega is the first trans actress to be nominated.

But the bigger spotlight may be on whether Vega's breakout performance — one of stirring strength and compassion — could make Oscar history. 

Bring the Popcorn!

We are still receiving great comments about Eddie Redmayne landing a transgender woman's role in an upcoming movie "The Danish Girl". Plus, increasingly, indepth posts are beginning to appear around the web.  For one of my faves, go here.

Back to our Condo Comments... The first is from Pat:

"If the movie is faithful to the story and to the book then we can expect a fair, sympathetic, emphathetic and feature film quality production. THe odds are greater for more people to feel safe and comfortable going to see the film if the lead is held by an Academy Award caliber actor than a relatively unknown T person."
Pat

And from Paula:

Paula GoodwinMarch 3, 2015 at 8:33 AM

"I wonder if Eddie was box office when hired? I suspect that producers should try to select the best actor for the job ~ regardless."

Good call Paula! First of all, it turns out Redmayne did have a history with the director in another  production. (The rest of you get your mind out of the gutter!)

 

Any more though, there are increasingly more transgender woman actresses capable of a role such as this so the rhetoric for not casting them is unfounded.
I do however think another of the most important casting factors of-a box office drawing card is showing a popular male actor transformed into a "woman."

Another "idea" I have read is-it would be too difficult to "un-transition" a gorgeous trans actress such as Jamie Clayton (left) to play the role.