Film & TV1 min(s) read
Published 15:51 22 Jul 2020 GMT
Scarlett Johansson will no longer be playing a transgender man in the controversial film project Rub & Tug.
The decision to cast Johansson, a cisgender woman, was met with dismay by trans activists when it was first made public back in 2018, and while the 35-year-old actress initially defended her role in the movie, she ultimately complied with calls to drop out and the entire project was later scrapped.
Rub & Tug follows the story of Dante "Tex" Gill, a real-life trans man who became entangled with the Mafia as he built an illicit empire of brothels and steroid abuse in 1970s Pittsburgh.
Discover more about the controversy below:
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According to Deadline, the project is now being resurrected as a TV series, and Pose and Transparent producer Our Lady J, a trans woman, has been signed to write a pilot for New Regency Television.
No longer being pitched for the big screen, Rub & Tug has a commitment "to cast a trans actor to play the show’s lead role," the outlet reports.
As a result, Johansson will no longer be involved in the project.
In an interview with Deadline, Our Lady J said: "Tex’s life story is like no other, and the rich landscape of this unexplored moment in time has truly captured my imagination.
"I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to write a gangster drama based on such a fascinating and diverse web of queer characters.
"The show is about the promise of reinvention, and the peril of losing oneself in the process. Tex Gill was out and proud in an era - the late 1970s - when living authentically came with the price of social ostracisation, leaving him vulnerable to a life of crime and lawlessness."
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Our Lady J continued: "Having grown up in Pennsylvania myself, I'm also excited to delve deep into Pittsburgh's underbelly as it unspools the story of Tex's remarkable life - it's also the story of a city's struggle for rebirth and a proud community's efforts to make its voice heard."
Nick Adams of GLAAD, an American non-governmental media monitoring organization, said: "Industry leaders are hearing, and even joining, the call to hire talented and experienced transgender storytellers like Our Lady J to tell trans stories. Authentic trans stories are compelling and largely untold, and when told well they attract acclaim from audiences, critics and award shows, as we've seen with Pose and A Fantastic Woman."
