amateurs Transparent Recognize Trace Lisette. For five seasons on Amazon’s genre-breaking series, she played Shea, a transgender yoga teacher who helps Jeffrey Tambor’s character and non-trans audiences understand trans slang and culture.
In 2017, Lisette also came forward with allegations that Tambor sexually harassed her. Transparent set, one of several accusations that led to Tambor’s departure from the show after the fourth season.
The role of Shea helped Lisette Tracy in Lauren Scafaria’s 2019 blockbuster. drug dealer Along with Jennifer Lopez, one of the first times that a trans actress participated in a major Hollywood movie.
And then nothing. In addition to occasional appearances, voice work on Netflix’s short-lived LGBTQ animated series. Q-Force And a minor twist on Ty Hodges’ Venus as a childLisette’s growing career came to a halt.
“Also drug dealerPersonally, there hasn’t been much movement in my career,” says Lisette. THR. “As a transgender actor, I don’t have the luxury of looking at some scripts every week and saying, ‘Oh, I want to play this or I’m trying to read for this.’ “
MERIE WALLACE / AMAZON
One scenario that came out in December 2016 was for MonicaA family drama by Andrea Palaoro, an Italian director Medeas (2013) and A-N-A (2017). Lizette starred in the title role, playing a trans woman who returns home to care for her sick mother (Patricia Clarkson), who she hadn’t seen before moving in and who Monica doesn’t recognize. your son
“There was a transgender hero here, the movie was about him, seen through his lens,” recalls Lisette, “and that’s weird. It’s also rare that it’s done well. and i think they are [Pallaoro and co-screenwriter Orlando Tirado] I wrote a really good script that focused on family and survival without being too flashy.”
Lisette read the part, went through several rounds of auditions. But last year, the project finally secured funding, received the green light, and gave Lisette her first lead role. Monica It will debut in competition at the Venice Film Festival, becoming the first film starring a trans person on the Lido.
Although the actor says he always tries to find a personal connection with the roles he plays: “I draw a parallel in my life and incorporate it into the character”. Lisette considers most of the film’s plot autobiographical.
“I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of my own trauma, but I think the story of Monica, being rejected by your biological family when you were young and awkward or, you know, assigned male at birth, is pretty typical. he says. So, spoiler alert, her survival alone was something a lot of trans people relate to. I think that got me. “
is not Monica The message is the movie. which A-N-A, which also premiered in Venice (she won the Best Actress award for Charlotte Rampling), in her latest film Palaoro favors smoldering over melodrama, the subtle over the explicit. There’s no screaming fight between Monica and her mother, no big reveal. Instead, we see Monica go through a lot of hardship: learning to be a loving mother, bonding with her brother (Joshua Close) and playing with her aunt’s kids, maneuvering the painful and mundane online hookup scene. In the end, her victories are also imperceptible and conditional.
“It would have been easy to make it flashier, more Hollywood, but I think the way we did it was very true to life,” says Lisette. “You don’t always get the black and white answer or revelation you’re looking for. Life is often just this gray area where you have to find the good and find happiness and fulfillment in that. “
The crux of the film’s story, Monica’s reconnection with the mother who had once rejected her, was something Lycett said “I could definitely relate to in my own life”. The actor has spoken publicly about how he was separated from his family for a while when he moved, but how he got back together with his mother, who became his “biggest fan”.
For the film, it didn’t hurt that Patricia Clarkson’s mannerisms “remind me a lot of my mother,” says Litzett. “In a way, I accepted. He was very warm, welcoming and grateful for my work, which really helped me feel more comfortable. ”
According to Lisette, Hollywood has become more comfortable with trans actors since then. Transparent. But true equality is yet to come, he says, as he continues to push for faster change in the film industry.
“There was progress, there was change, but it was slow, to be honest,” he says. “I feel very honored to be able to play trans characters and I think there are many other trans stories that deserve to be told. But at the same time, I don’t want to limit myself like other leading actresses don’t need to limit themselves. It would be amazing to be in the Marvel Universe, or to play someone’s friend or aunt in another independent movie that touches your heart… I hope people who see this movie know that a trans actress is starring in a movie in Venice. shake something up And when people see this movie and realize that being trans is so underrated and that the role could be any lead, they’ll see that maybe a trans actress isn’t that niche. It’s so weird that Hollywood sometimes shuts us down, and I think we just want to get over it.”
This story first appeared in the August 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
