Ian Alexander | |
---|---|
Born | Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | April 20, 2001
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2016–present |
Ian Alexander (born April 20, 2001) is an American actor, known for their [lower-alpha 1] roles as Buck Vu on The OA , Lev in The Last of Us Part II , and Gray Tal on Star Trek: Discovery .
Alexander was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, [7] to an American father and a Vietnamese mother. [8] Due to their father's work with the Department of Defense, their family often moved and has lived in places such as Hawaii, Japan and Washington, D.C. [9] During elementary school, they participated in community theater and chorus. [9] Though they were raised in a Mormon family, they are not a participating member, [10] and considers themself to be agnostic. [11] They came out as transgender in 2014 and through the course of their gender transition identified as trans masculine while using he/him pronouns exclusively. [12] [13] [14] [15] As of late 2020 Alexander adopted the use of they/them , [16] shortly thereafter identifying as non-binary and preferring the use of they/them while accepting the alternative use of he/him. [2] [17] [18] [19] [20]
They received viral attention online through their photo response to a transphobic incident perpetrated by four UCLA college students. [21]
Alexander's debut acting role was on Netflix's The OA , where they played Buck Vu. Buck, like Alexander, is also a Vietnamese-American transgender youth and was partially based on Alexander's real experiences. [12] They were cast from an open casting call online that spread through Tumblr. [13] [22] [23] Later they were cast in the 2018 feature film Every Day , based on the book by David Levithan, playing Vic, a trans teen whom the spirit "A" inhabits for a day. [24] In October 2017, Naughty Dog announced Alexander had joined the cast for The Last of Us Part II , the sequel to their popular video game. [25] They played Lev, a transgender character in the game. [26]
In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, sparking the start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named them one of their Pride50: "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people". [27] Similarly, Alexander was one of the cover stars for the 2019 Pride issue of them. , "spotlighting three rising queer artists whose work and lives are breaking new ground for LGBTQ+ visibility". [28] In March 2020, it was announced Alexander will star in the independent film Daughter. [29]
In September 2020, it was announced Alexander had joined the cast of Star Trek: Discovery ; they play the first transgender character played by a transgender actor in the Star Trek canon. [2] [1] Alexander voices Tai, one of Lunella's classmates, in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur . Tai is revealed to be non-binary in the episode "Check Yourself", as Lunella refers to Tai using they/them pronouns. [30]
Key | Description |
---|---|
† | Indicates works not yet released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016–2019 | The OA | Buck Vu and Michelle Vu | TV series; main cast | [8] |
2017 | Déjà Vu | Lance | Short film; co-writer | [31] |
2018 | Every Day | Vic | Film | |
2020 | The Last of Us Part II | Lev | Video game; featured voice and motion capture role | |
2020–present | Star Trek: Discovery | Gray Tal | TV series; recurring role | [32] |
2022 | Daughter | Brother | Film | [29] |
2023 | Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur | Tai | Voice; animated TV series |
Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or female. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is different from the sex assigned to them at birth, though some non-binary people do not consider themselves transgender.
The gender binary is the classification of gender into two distinct forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system, cultural belief, or both simultaneously. Most cultures use a gender binary, having two genders.
Rebecca Edison "Bex" Taylor-Klaus is an American actor. They rose to fame for their starring role as Bullet on the crime drama series The Killing (2013). They gained further prominence with roles as Sin on the superhero drama series Arrow (2013–15), Lex on the comedy series House of Lies (2014), as Audrey Jensen on the horror series Scream (2015–16), and the voice of Katie "Pidge" Holt on the Netflix animated series Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016–18). They played the character Bishop in the drama series Deputy, which aired from January to April 2020.
Portrayals of transgender people in mass media reflect societal attitudes about transgender identity, and have varied and evolved with public perception and understanding. Media representation, culture industry, and social marginalization all hint at popular culture standards and the applicability and significance to mass culture, even though media depictions represent only a minuscule spectrum of the transgender group, which essentially conveys that those that are shown are the only interpretations and ideas society has of them. However, in 2014, the United States reached a "transgender tipping point", according to Time. At this time, the media visibility of transgender people reached a level higher than seen before. Since then, the number of transgender portrayals across TV platforms has stayed elevated. Research has found that viewing multiple transgender TV characters and stories improves viewers' attitudes toward transgender people and related policies.
Tommy Dorfman is an American actress, best known for playing Ryan Shaver in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why (2017).
Natalie Wynn is an American left-wing YouTuber, political commentator, and cultural critic. She is best known for her YouTube channel, ContraPoints, where she creates video essays exploring a wide range of topics such as politics, gender, ethics, race, and philosophy.
Indya Adrianna Moore is an American actor and model. They are known for playing the role of Angel Evangelista in the FX television series Pose. Time named them one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. Moore is transgender and non-binary, and uses they/them and she/her pronouns.
Hunter Schafer is an American actress and model. She made her acting debut as transgender high school student Jules Vaughn in the HBO teen drama television series Euphoria (2019–present). In 2023, she portrayed Tigris Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
The third season of the American television series Star Trek: Discovery follows the crew of the starship Discovery as they travel to the 32nd century, more than 900 years after Star Trek: The Original Series, and learn that Starfleet has nearly been destroyed by a cataclysmic event called "The Burn" that has left the galaxy disconnected. The season was produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise serving as showrunners.
Lachlan Watson is an American actor, best known for playing trans boy Theo Putnam in the Netflix original series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and genderfluid twin children of Chucky, Glen and Glenda in the second season of the Syfy/USA Network original series Chucky.
Gender pronouns or personal gender pronouns are the set of pronouns that an individual uses to reflect that person's own gender identity. In English, when declaring one's chosen pronouns, a person will often state the subject and object pronouns, although sometimes, the possessive pronouns are also stated. The pronouns chosen may include neopronouns such as "ze" and "zir".
Jesse James Keitel is an American actress, writer, and artist, known for starring in Asher Jelinsky's award-winning short film Miller & Son (2019), the ABC crime drama Big Sky (2020) and on Queer as Folk (2022).
Blu del Barrio is an American actor, best known for playing Adira Tal in Star Trek: Discovery. They are the first openly non-binary actor, playing the first non-binary role in Star Trek. Del Barrio has studied and engaged in the performing arts since childhood, graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in 2019. They are outspoken in support of transgender visibility and inclusivity with accurate depiction in popular media.
Non-binary or genderqueer is a spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine—identities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities can fall under the transgender umbrella, since many non-binary people identify with a gender that is different from their assigned sex. Another term for non-binary is enby. This page examines non-binary characters in fictional works as a whole, focusing on characters and tropes in cinema and fantasy.
Zoe Terakes is an Australian actor who is most known for notably playing Reb Keane in Wentworth, and as Hayley in the horror film Talk to Me.