Hunter Schafer (25) became world famous for the role of the trans girl Jules, but now she turns down such roles.
ACTOR: Hunter Schafer, here at the Berlin Film Festival last year. Photo: Christoph Gollnow / AP / NTB
Wednesday 3 April at 13:13
Although she is a transwoman and known as LHBTQA designation for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders as a group+ activist, Schafer wants to remove the focus on her own gender identity in her career.
In an interview with the magazine GQ states the American actress and model that she tries to avoid mentioning the word “trans” in interviews, and that she is not interested in taking on more trans roles on film or TV.
In the award-winning “Euphoria,” Schafer plays the role of Jules, the girl that lead Rue (played by Zendaya) falls in love with. Schafer was barely 20 when the series premiered.
To GQ explains the 25-year-old that it has taken time to learn that she does not need to limit herself to roles like this. She is also tired of the fact that the conversation during interviews often hints at the fact that she is trans.
– After all, it feels degrading. Especially after high school, I was tired of talking about it.
TREND SETTER: Hunter Schafer at the Costume Designers Guild Awards in Los Angeles last February, where she won an award. Photo: Chris Pizzello / AP / NTB
Schafer has had several assignments after “Euphoria”, including “The Hunger Games”. She also plays the lead role in the horror thriller “Cuckoo”, which premieres in May.
– I have worked hard to get to where I am, and through these very demanding periods in my transition process. Now I just want to be a girl and get on, she says.
Sometimes Schafer feels guilty for not being a bigger spokesperson for the LGBTQ Designation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people as a group environment.
She has nevertheless decided that she can perhaps do more good by omit to talk about it – and by showing that you can be in the industry without gender identity being decisive in the context.
WEARING FEATHERS: Hunter Schafer at Vanity Fair’s Oscar gala in Los Angeles last spring. Photo: Evan Agostini / AP / NTB
The role in “Euphoria” was Schafer’s acting debut. VG met the star in Los Angeles in 2019, when the first season aired.
Even then, it was important for Schafer to clarify that the role of Jules is in no way intended to be a representative of the entire trans community.
– That was one of the things I appreciated most about “Euphoria. I didn’t feel like the point of the series was to tick every single minority box. Instead, it is about showing an individual’s experience of being trans, which does not necessarily reflect how the rest feel, she explained.
DEATH: “Euphoria” actor Angus Cloud at the Oscar nachspiel in 2022. Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP / NTB
In the magazine interview, Schafer also talks about the great sadness over the death of “Euphoria” colleague Angus Cloud last year.
– I have never experienced losing such a close friend before, and one my own age.
Cloud died of an overdose, aged 25.
– He was among the heartbeats in “Euphoria”, says Schafer, who describes the grief as “surreal”.
– It makes no sense.
The secrecy around the third season of “Euphoria” is great, but it is expected that Schafer will make a comeback.
But she has several interests. In 2022, Schafer debuted as a director with the music video “Hornylovesickmess” for the Norwegian artist Marie Ulven Ringheim, alias Girl in Red (25).