Scarlett Johansson has responded to online criticism after it was announced she would take the role of Dante “Tex” Gill in the forthcoming feature Rub & Tug.
Gill – born Lois Jean Gill – was a notorious massage-parlour operator in late-70s and early-80s Pittsburgh who lived as a man, adopting male clothing and hairstyles. An obituary printed in 2003 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggested “she may even have undergone the initial stages of a sex change”.
Scarlett Johansson is playing a trans man in her next movie because her ultimate career goal is to take an acting job from a member of each and every marginalized group.
— Faith Choyce (@faithchoyce) July 3, 2018
While little is publicly known of the details of Gill’s life, the casting of Johannson has attracted considerable criticism on social media. Bustle reports that the actor’s representative supplied them with a statement in response: “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.” Tambor, Leto and Huffman all successfully played trans roles in, respectively, the TV show Transparent, Dallas Buyers Club and Transamerica.
Rub & Tug is due to be directed by Rupert Sanders; he and Johansson previously worked together on Ghost in the Shell, which itself was the focus of considerable controversy for its perceived “whitewashing”.
