‘It’s not a costume’: Trans actors should have chances to play trans characters, teen says

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⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️

• On March 29, Elliot Page announced that their character on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy will be transitioning from female to male.
• The character is following a similar journey as Page, who announced they were transgender in 2020.
• Non-binary teen actor Vaughan Murrae is a fan of The Umbrella Academy and of Page.
• CBC Kids News asked them to reflect on the news. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

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How did 16-year-old actor Vaughan Murrae react when Elliot Page’s character came out as transgender in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy?

It’s “really cool,” they told CBC Kids News. “I think it’s very natural.”

Vaughan, from Hamilton, Ontario, is non-binary, which means they don’t identify with male or female. Instead, they said they’re somewhere in between.

Page, who is a Hollywood star originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, came out as transgender in 2020.

That means that the actor didn’t identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth.

In Page’s case, that meant getting medical treatment to transition from female to male, as well as changing their appearance and the presentation of their gender in order to feel and look more like themselves.

Now that transition is being reflected on screen as well.

On March 29, Page announced on Instagram that his Umbrella Academy character, Vanya Hargreeves, would now be known as Viktor on Season 3 of the show.

Vaughan said Page’s transition — as well his character’s — speaks to their own experience as a non-binary actor in the industry.

How Vanya became Viktor

In Season 1 of The Umbrella Academy, Page’s character Vanya starts off in a depressed and alienated place.

She doesn’t know that she has superpowers like the rest of the Hargreeves family.

Season 2 saw Vanya explore a same-sex relationship.

Now, in Season 3, it seems that Vanya is set to become Viktor.

There was no official announcement explaining the story behind the character’s transition.

All we know is that on March 29, Page posted an image of their character as they will look in Season 3, which will launch on Netflix June 22, with this note: “Meet Viktor Hargreeves.”

Netflix responded with this message 16 hours later:

How a non-binary teen actor relates to Elliot Page

Vaughan said that their discovery of their own LGBTQ identity has mirrored Page’s.

“I started questioning myself when I was in Grade 5,” said Vaughan.

“At first, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m a lesbian,” then I was like, ‘Nevermind, I’m a guy,’ and then I came out as non-binary.”

For Vaughan, being non-binary means the way they dress and act can be pretty fluid — sometimes they dress in more feminine clothing, and other days, they tap into their more masculine side.

They also use “they/them” pronouns and like to play acting roles that are male, female or somewhere in between.

“When I came out as non-binary, it was like a simple text to my mom,” said Vaughan.

“I wrote, ‘Hey, mom, I’m non-binary.’ And she was like, ‘That’s great. What do you want for dinner?’”

Since 2020, Vaughan Murrae has appeared in the Shaftesbury web series The Solutioneers, the 2019 remount of Ghostwriter and will next star in a coming of age feature film called Before I Change My Mind. (Image credit: Annastacia Dickerson)

How being non-binary affects Vaughan’s experience as an actor

Vaughan said that being non-binary has actually helped them get more acting work.

“If anything, I think it’s kind of helping me a bit because people are like ‘Ooh, that’s a young gen-Z, queer kid! That’s good representation.’”

Vaughan said they’ve had some really positive experiences — such as on the set of feature film they shot in Alberta this past summer where they got to play a non-binary leading role.

Still, they’ve noticed that sometimes productions want to create LGBTQ characters without doing the work.

Vaughan gets a makeup touchup behind the scenes of their upcoming movie, Before I Change My Mind. (Image credit: Fish Griwkowsky)

A few years ago, Vaughan said they were cast in a show that essentially wanted Vaughan to write their character for them.

“The writers were questioning whether to make this certain character non-binary or not, but they decided to go against it because they didn’t have enough knowledge on the subject,” said Vaughan.

“So when I came on, they were like, ‘Oh, this is a great opportunity.’ Like, ‘If we want to make this character non-binary, this child will teach us how to do it!’”

Vaughan said they love exploring gender with the characters they play, but it shouldn’t be completely on them to do so.

“Seeing Elliot [Page] take charge, I really admire it because it’s a big weight on your shoulders for it to be your job to teach others.”

Elliot Page on the Oscar red carpet last month. The actor began their transition journey in 2020 and has been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ community. (Image credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/The Associated Press)

Who gets to play LGBTQ roles in Hollywood?

There’s a history in Hollywood of non-transgender actors like Hilary Swank and Jared Leto receiving Academy Awards for playing trans roles in Boys Don’t Cry or Dallas Buyers Club.

Vaughan doesn’t think that’s cool.

“I don’t want to be the kind of person that’s like, ‘You cannot play this role! No!’ but at the same time, queer actors exist,” said Vaughan.

“It’s not a costume, and we’re not just roles for others to play. We’re real people. So queer representation isn’t only in characters, it’s in the actors, too.”

In the case of Page and The Umbrella Academy, perhaps hiring LGBTQ actors can even change the destiny of the characters they play, creating even more possibilities for storytelling.

We’ll just have to wait until Season 3 to find out.

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