Scarlett Johansson Responds to Criticism on Her Choice to Play a Trans Man

On Monday, June 2, Deadline announced that Scarlett Johansson had signed on to play real life transgender male kingpin Dante “Tex” Gill in Rupert Sanders’ Rub & Tug, an “American Hustle-like” film. The movie will chronicle the life of Gill, who ran a prostitution ring in the ’70s out of a string massage parlors in Pittsburgh and launched a business selling anabolic steroid to football players. Not everyone was pleased with the choice for a cisgender woman to play a transgender male.

In response to the backlash she’s received, Johansson issued a statement to Bustle on Tuesday, in which she called out fellow cisgender actors who also played transgender roles. “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment,” the Avengers actress said. Tambor earned multiple Emmy Awards for his role in Transparent; Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) and Huffman (Transamerica) nabbed Academy Awards for their roles as well.

Johansson’s newest role isn’t the first time the actress has found herself at the center of controversy. In 2017, Johansson was criticized for the whitewashing of her Asian character in the film Ghost in the Shell.

Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell

Paramount

Johansson opened up to Marie Claire about the controversy surrounding Ghost in the Shell, saying, “I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive. Also, having a franchise with a female protagonist driving it is such a rare opportunity. Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that—the weight of such a big property on my shoulders.”

Rub & Tug is said to begin production in early 2019.