15 Transgender Actresses Casting Directors Should Call Instead of Cis Men

The question of whether cisgender actors (cisgender men in particular, but also cisgender women) should play transgender women's roles has gained steam recently. Last month, Hari Nef added her voice to the debate. The 23-year-old model and actress who stars in season two of Transparent was asked in a HuffPost Live conversation what her view on trans roles being portrayed by cis actors was. While she acknowledged that “some recognition is always better than no recognition,” she went on to explain why that wasn’t enough.

“I feel like the clock is ticking in terms of how long can these studios and these producers really get away with casting cis people in trans roles when like, I’m here. Laverne [Cox]’s here. Trace Lysette’s here. Alexandra Billings is here. We’re all here—and we’re trans. We come to the set with years and months of lived experience that a cis actor would have to study.” She made it clear her comments weren’t  a dig at specific actors, adding, “Yes, Jeffrey Tambor kills this role [in Transparent] Eddie Redmayne’s a great actor and is fabulous in The Danish Girl, and I feel like these are roles being given to great actors. But at the end of the day,” Nef concluded, “trans people deserve the opportunity to tell our own stories, and I hope, moving forward, we can see more of these castings.”

We couldn’t agree more, but it seems like casting directors haven’t quite taken the hint yet. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 15 transgender actresses, which is by no means exhaustive, just to get them started.