Halle Berry Pulls Out Of Transgender Role After Receiving Backlash Online

Written by: @kristenshylin_

According to Variety, Halle Berry has pulled out of the unnamed project where she would have played the role of a transgender man.

On Friday, the actress announced on Instagram Live that she would possibly be playing a transgender person in her next project.

Berry said the new project got pitched to her when she was preparing her role in Bruised, but she put it on the back burner until she completed the sports film.

“I thought, after I do this movie, that’s the character I’m going to play,” she said.

On the live video, Berry shared that the main character was a woman that transitions into a man, adding that she was excited to “experience” the world of a transgender person.

“I want to experience that world, understand that world,” Berry continued.

Berry mentioned that her role required her to cut all of her hair off, as she revealed that she did not mind the physical transition and looked forward to profoundly analyzing her character’s role.

“That’s what I want to experience and understand and study and explore,” Berry said.

Berry described her new role as an opportunity to tell a woman’s story that changes to a man. However, as news surfaced of her announcement, Berry faced widespread backlash for considering the role.

The account holder of the Netflix docu-series “Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen” condemned Berry’s new project, asking her to watch the Netflix series to “understand how cis actors like yourself acting in trans roles has major cultural consequences offscreen.”

As a result of the massive pushback, the movie star decided to pull out of the project.

On Monday night, she released a statement on Twitter apologizing to the trans community.

“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.”

The documentary account responded to Berry’s apology and thanked her for “listening and learning.”