Hunter Schafer is opening up about being one of the most famous trans people in the world right now and how she feels guilt for “not being more of a spokesperson.”
The 25-year-old actress is best known for playing Jules on Euphoria and she recently starred as Tigris in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Hunter is on the cover of GQ‘s new issue and explained why she has been turning down the trans roles she’s been offered.
Keep reading to find out more…
In the interview, Hunter said that she’s hoping we’ll get to a point where being trans is something that will not be mentioned when discussing her name.
“It has not just happened naturally by any means. If I let it happen, it would still be giving ‘Transsexual Actress’ before every article ever,” Hunter said. “As soon as I say [the word ‘trans’], it gets blastoff. It took a while to learn that and it also took a while to learn that I don’t want to be [reduced to] that, and I find it ultimately demeaning to me and what I want to do. Especially after high school, I was sick of talking about it. I worked so hard to get to where I am, past these really hard points in my transition, and now I just want to be a girl and finally move on.”
Hunter added, “It’s a privilege, but it’s been very intentional. I’ve gotten offered tons of trans roles, and I just don’t want to do it. I don’t want to talk about it.”
She also discussed not being more of a spokesperson.
“I know for a fact that I’m one of the most famous trans people in media right now, and I do feel a sense of responsibility, and maybe a little bit of guilt, for not being more of a spokesperson,” she said. “But ultimately, I really do believe that not making it the centerpiece to what I’m doing will allow me to get further. And I think getting further and doing awesome shit, in the interest of ‘the movement,’ will be way more helpful than talking about it all the time.”
Read some more revelations from Hunter‘s interview with GQ.