Anna Friel to star in trans TV drama
(Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI)
Anna Friel entered the LGBTQ cannon back when she performed the first ever lesbian kiss in soap opera Brookside.
And now the star will be spreading the name of queer pride once more as the mother of a trans child in mini-series Butterfly.
The ITV mini-drama, which will be showcased in three parts, tells the story of an 11-year-old boy, Max, who wants to transition with the support of his mum Vicky, played by Friel.
(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
the star will be spreading the name of queer pride once more as the mother of a trans child in mini-series Butterfly.
Vicky, who is a single mother, wants to find the best way to support her son, who is also longing for an idyllic family life.
“Butterfly is a heartwarming and emotional script from Tony Marchant that focuses upon gender identity and one boy’s search to be recognised for who he really is,” says ITV drama chief Polly Hill.
“During our research the topicality of Butterfly was absolutely apparent,” says co-producer Adam Kemp.
“It feels as if 2017 is the year when gender identity has become a major national talking point.”
After Friel played lesbian character Beth Jordache in Brookside, the star said that she had shied away from taking on any queer female roles.
Nearly two decades later, the actress starred as a finance director who has a relationship with a female escort in Steven Soderbergh TV drama The Girlfriend Experience.
“In The Girlfriend Experience, nudity and sex is the key to the role. And they want me to look real,” said the star.
“It’s terrifying. I’ve definitely upped my hours at the gym.”
Speaking about her landmark role, Friel said that she found the generational difference in how people perceive sexualities “fascinating”.
“I find it fascinating that my 11-year-old daughter’s generation will never even think there’s an issue with being gay, straight, bisexual, whatever, but my own generation still sees a stigma in being a lesbian,” she said to the Daily Mail’s Event magazine.
“The next generation is already educated, and maybe this is something I started.”
Butterly will be filmed in Manchester in early 2018.
