Scarlett Johansson’s representative has responded to criticism aimed at the actress after she was cast as a transgender man in the upcoming film, ‘Rub And Tug’.
The 33-year-old star will play Jean Marie Gill- preferred name Dante ‘Tex’ Gill - in the real-life drama about a massage parlour and sex work business in Pittsburgh in the ’70s and ’80s.
Following a backlash to the decision to cast Scarlett as a trans man, her rep reportedly issued a statement to Bustle, saying: “Tell them they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”
Felicity Huffman was nominated for an Oscar after playing a transgender woman in 2005’s ‘Transamerica’, Jared Leto won a best supporting actor Oscar for playing a trans woman in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’, and Jeffrey Tambor won two Emmys for his role as a transgender woman in the TV series ‘Transparent’.
The decision to cast Scarlett in the role - and the subsequent response did not go down well with some film fans on Twitter...
It’s not the first time Scarlett Johansson has been at the centre of controversy after being cast in a major movie.
She took the lead role in 2017’s ‘Ghost In The Shell’ – playing Major Motoko Kusanagi - who was Japanese in the original manga series, resulting in accusations of ‘whitewashing’.
At the time, Scarlett told Marie Claire: “I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.”