Known for her role in the HBO’s wildly popular, Euphoria, actress Hunter Schafer has said that she has turned down multiple offers to play trans characters. In an interview with GQ, Schafer expressed her wish to shift away from being solely identified by her trans status, stating her preference to simply be seen as a girl without additional labels.
“As soon as I say it (trans), it gets blastoff. It took a while to learn that, and it also took a while to learn that I don’t want to be that, and I find it ultimately demeaning to me and what I want to do. Especially after high school, I was sick of talking about it. I worked so hard to get to where I am, past these really hard points in my transition, and now I just want to be a girl and finally move on.”
The actress revealed feeling hesitant to discuss her trans identity in interviews, fearing it would overshadow her professional achievements. Reflecting on her activism during high school, where she played a significant role in challenging discriminatory legislation in North Carolina, Schafer highlighted her desire to explore broader themes in her work beyond trans issues.
“I felt like I had to make my art a response to everything that was happening in North Carolina when that’s not really what I wanted to be making art about, necessarily. I think I felt like, ‘Oh, I’m trans. I should be making art about this.’”
Schafer is currently set to appear in Yorgos Lanthimos’ next film, Kinds of Kindness, slated to release in June this year.
