Hunter Schafer doesn’t want to be called a trans activist: ‘I’m just a tr***y who’s famous’
Hunter Schafer explains why she doesn’t want to be labelled as a trans activist. (Getty)
Cuckoo star Hunter Schafer has spoken again about her disdain at being called a transgender activist, after previously revealing that she has turned down a “ton of trans roles”.
Despite rising to fame as trans teen Jules Vaughn in controversial teen drama Euphoria, the actress remains keen to distance herself from the “trans” label. Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine recently, Schafer said: “I just happen to be a person who’s part of a marginalised community in the public eye, and people love to call me an activist,” she said. “No, I’m just a tr***y who’s famous.”
Schafer has spoken for some time about her dislike of “transgender” being used as a prefix to describe her. In April, the actress said that she finds it “demeaning” to be labelled a “trans actress”.
And she has turned down roles that feature her as a trans character because she now just wants to “be a girl and finally move on”.
However, she did admit to feeling “guilt” at not wanting to be a spokesperson for the community.
“I know I’m one of the most famous trans people in media right now and feel a sense of responsibility, and maybe a little bit of guilt, for not being more of a spokesperson,” she said.
“But, ultimately, I believe that not making it a centrepiece to what I’m doing, will allow me to get further.”
Although she may be reluctant to be a spokesperson, Schafer rose to prominence in the US in 2016, after she was named as the youngest complainant in a lawsuit against a North Carolina bill that prevented trans people from using the toilets that match their gender identity.
Since her Euphoria role, Schafer has played a number of cisgender characters, including Tigris Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and Gretchen, a scream queen in Tilman Singer’s new psychological horror film, Cuckoo.
Cuckoo is out now in US cinemas, and is due to open in UK cinemas on 23 August.
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