Emma Corrin was shocked by ‘hate’ after coming out as non-binary: ‘It was quite a reality check’
Emma Corrin was shocked by hate they received after coming out. (Getty)
The Crown star Emma Corrin has reflected on the backlash they received after they publicly came out as non-binary.
The British actor, who is best known for their performance as Princess Diana in the fourth series of The Crown, first hinted at their identity in April 2021 when they called themselves ‘queer’ in an Instagram post.
A few months later in July, they shared their experience of using binders and quietly changed their pronouns to “they/them” in their Instagram bio.
However, the comments section soon attracted a wave of vitriolic abuse from anonymous trolls, undermining Corrin’s identity and experience.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Corrin says they were shocked by how much ‘hate’ they received after disclosing their gender identity for the first time.
Speaking to the magazine as part of its annual Hollywood issue, Corrin admitted they didn’t really mention the decision to come out to their team beforehand.
“I might have [messaged them] over WhatsApp and just said, “I’m going to post this.” I don’t think there was any big discussion about it,” they explained.
“Naively, maybe, it took me aback how much hate I got for that. It was quite a reality check.”
However, it seems the My Policeman actor doesn’t have any regrets.
“For a lot of people, it did help,” they continued. “Especially around conversation of gender and stuff, it does help a lot of people to see someone living as a non-binary person in the world.
“I know how much other people’s accounts helped me, that’s my motivation for keeping my social media at the moment.”
Being able to live their authentic truth, the actor continued, has brought them a lot of “joy”, especially in comparison to feeling “so restricted” in the past.
So far, Corrin has mainly been cast in female-presenting roles such as Princess Diana and Marion in My Policeman, but has hopes to expand their repertoire.
“There aren’t a lot of non-binary parts out there,” they explained. “We need to be supporting queer writers and developing projects and welcoming these narratives into the creative space.”
“But also, being nonbinary for me is a very fluid space where it’s not a rejection of femininity or masculinity, it’s sort of an embrace of both. My experience on this earth has been a female one, up until recently, and I still love all those parts of me.
“It’s interesting that I’m not offered male parts, but I would equally be drawn to that! I suppose it’s also what the industry sees you as, and I think, hopefully, that is shifting.”
Corrin has also had to grapple with how they are perceived when it comes to award nominations, joining calls to consider gender neutral categories after being placed in the female category for their Emmy nomination.
In an interview with BBC they said: “When it comes to categories, do we need to make it specific as to whether you’re being nominated for a female role or a male role?
“You can discuss awards and the representation there, but really the conversation needs to be about having more representation in the material itself, in the content that we are seeing for non-binary people, for queer people, for trans people, because then I think that will change a lot.
“When those parts come up, meaning more people and more actors are playing those roles then I think there will be more of an urgency with which these questions will be addressed.”
As for future plans, Emma Corrin is booked and busy with the recent announcement they will be joining the MCU as the main villain in Deadpool 3 opposite Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
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