Hunter Schafer has rejected ‘tons’ of trans roles: ‘I just don’t want to do it’
By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Los Angeles Correspondent
Euphoria star Hunter Schafer said she no longer wants to play transgender characters.
The 25-year-old model and actress rose to global fame playing transgender high school student Jules Vaughn in gritty drama series Euphoria, alongside Zendaya who starred as Rue Bennett.
US star Schafer told GQ magazine that she hopes her future as an actress is no longer focused on her trans identity.
“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,” she said.
“I’ve gotten offered tons of trans roles, and I just don’t want to do it. I don’t want to talk about it.
“I know for a fact that I’m one of the most famous trans people in media right now, and I do feel a sense of responsibility, and maybe a little bit of guilt, for not being more of a spokesperson.
“But ultimately, I really do believe that not making it the centrepiece to what I’m doing will allow me to get further.
“And I think getting further and doing awesome shit, in the interest of ‘the movement,’ will be way more helpful than talking about it all the time.”
Schafer is expected to return for a delayed third season of Euphoria, but has recently starred in the hit Hunger Games prequel The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, and will lead the upcoming psychological thriller Cuckoo from Tilman Singer.
The actress said she has purposefully avoided using the word transgender in interviews for her projects in an attempt to move away from focusing on her identity.
“It has not just happened naturally by any means. If I let it happen, it would still be giving ‘Transsexual Actress’ before every article ever,” she said.
“As soon as I say it, it gets blast-off. It took a while to learn that and it also took a while to learn that I don’t want to be (reduced to) 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,” she added.
