Writer-director Dustin Lance Black says good, talented transgender actors are not hard to find

Dustin Lance Black’s ABC miniseries When We Rise includes actual transgender actors in transgender roles.

It’s a refreshing break from Hollywood’s usual practice of casting cisgender actors in these roles including Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club and Felicity Huffman in Transamerica.

‘… The big surprise is, it was not hard to find amazing trans actors and actresses to play these parts,’ Black tells PrideSource in an interview posted today.

‘What was difficult was deciding who to cast because so many great tapes came in. So, I call bullshit on Hollywood if they say it’s difficult. And if they think it’s difficult, then they should call our casting directors because they found unbelievable trans actors and actresses, and it was actually tough to decide who to cast.’

Not that the Oscar winning screenwriter (Milk) doesn’t think cisgender people shouldn’t ever play trans roles or that straights can’t play gays etc.

‘First and foremost, when I’m casting any role, I’m gonna look for somebody who can bring a part of their experience to the role,’ he says.

‘They still have to be a great actor, so if I can’t find anyone in the world who shares some experience that they’re about to portray in this character, who’s also a good actor, then I’ll happily go for someone else.’

Casting LGBT performers in LGBT roles is getting easier now that more of them are more public about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

‘Years ago, it was difficult to find openly gay actors to play openly gay roles – that was difficult,’ Black recalls.

‘When we were doing Milk, that’s what we said we wanted to do, and the studio gave us full permission to do that. So, we called agents and manager friends and they all said they didn’t have any gay actors or actresses, which is funny since I knew some of their clients were gay! (Laughs)

‘It was very frustrating, but thankfully that’s begun to change as well, particularly in this young generation of actors and actress who, in one way or another, have come out on social media when they were kids and there’s no putting them back in the closet in today’s social-media age.’

Black’s eight-hour miniseries When We Rise will premiere on ABC on 27 February.

It will take a break the next night then resume broadcasting Wednesday through Friday, 1-3 March in two-hour episodes.

It tells stories from the LGBTI rights movement beginning with the 1969 Stonewall Riots through today.