Halle Berry has pulled out from an upcoming role which would have seen her portray a transgender man, and has since issued an apology to her millions of followers on social media.
At 1:57AM on 7 July, the Monster’s Ball actor wrote “Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and I’d like to apologise for those remarks.
“As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories,” she wrote.
“I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera.”
This comes after Halle spoke during an interview on Instagram Live, and how she had been preparing for the role. While she said she was excited to take a “deep dive” into the transgender community, she faced backlash for misgendering the character several times.
“Who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project,” she said.
Halle Berry’s casting as a transgender man caught the attention of Netflix’s documentary, Disclosure, which urged X-Men star to watch their film to “understand how cis actors like yourself acting in trans roles has major cultural consequences offscreen.”
This isn’t the first time a cisgender actor has faced criticism for accepting the role of a transgender character. Scarlett Johansson excited a similar role in Rub and Tug in 2018.