Ivory Aquino | |
|---|---|
 At the 2017 San Francisco Trans March | |
| Alma mater | Berklee College of Music |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Notable credit | When We Rise |
Ivory Aquino is an American actress. She is known for portraying transgender activist Cecilia Chung in the 2017 miniseries When We Rise . [1] [2]
Aquino was born in the Philippines. She knew from a very young age that she was transgender, stating in a 2017 interview, "As soon as I was born, I was always a girl; I was just assigned differently at birth." [1] In her mid-teens, she started hormone therapy. [1] [3] She was often bullied at school, but her parents were supportive of her transition. [1]
As a teenager, Aquino moved to the United States to study at the Berklee College of Music, which she graduated from summa cum laude . [1] [4] She enrolled to study singing, thinking that there would be no acting roles for a transgender Filipina. But after having gender confirmation surgery, Aquino decided to pursue her childhood dream of being an actor. [2] [3]
In 2015, Aquino performed the role of Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet in New York City with The Drilling Company's Bryant Park Presents. [1] [2] Other stage roles she has played include Desdemona in Othello , Mark Antony in Julius Caesar , and Isabella in Measure for Measure , all with The Drilling Company's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot on the Lower East Side of New York. [5] [6] [4]
Aquino was cast in the role of transgender activist Cecilia Chung for the 2017 docudrama miniseries, When We Rise . At the time she auditioned, she had played mostly cisgender roles, and was not open about being trans, as "There never was a reason to talk about it." [7] [8] Aquino made sure to let series writer Dustin Black know that she was transgender, which helped her secure the part, as Black was specifically looking for trans actresses. [2] [7] [8] She publicly came out as transgender during a January 2017 press conference for the series. [7]
Aquino met with Chung in person to prepare for her part on When We Rise. They became friends; Aquino considers Chung to be a mentor and "older sister" figure in her life. [9]
Aquino plays a minor but important character named Cassie in the FBI: Most Wanted season 1 episode "Silkworm" in 2020. [10]
In January 2022, Aquino was cast as Alysia Yeoh in the unreleased superhero film Batgirl , set in the DC Extended Universe. [11]
Aquino has spoken out in support of trans children and transgender rights, criticizing the Donald Trump administration's overturn of federal protection for transgender students. [12] [13]
Aquino lives in New York City, where she enjoys spending time with her Shih Tzu dog Chewybear. [7] [13] She is the niece of former President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino. [3]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | The Fever and the Fret | Lea | |
| 2019 | Lingua Franca | Lea | |
| 2020 | Lapsis | Jo | |
| 2022 | Batgirl | Alysia Yeoh | Unreleased |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | When We Rise | Cecilia Chung | 3 episodes |
| 2019 | When They See Us | Ms. Baqri | Episode: "Part Three" |
| 2019 | Tales of the City | Doctor Perez | Episode: "Happy Now" |
| 2019-2020 | New Amsterdam | Inmate Fran Meale | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | FBI: Most Wanted | Cassie | Episode: "Silkworm" |
| 2021 | Blue Bloods | Ashley Roberts | Episode: "Guardian Angels" |
| 2022 | City on a Hill | Lourdes Mendoza | 2 episodes |
Yeoh Choo Kheng, better known by the stage name Michelle Yeoh, is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early films in Hong Kong, she rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s after starring in Hong Kong action films where she performed her own stunts. These roles included Yes, Madam (1985), Magnificent Warriors (1987), Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), The Heroic Trio, Tai Chi Master, and Wing Chun (1994).
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Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. The character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in 1961 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff as Bat-Girl, and was replaced in 1967 by Barbara Gordon, who became the most iconic Batgirl. The character debuted in Detective Comics #359 by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino, introduced as the niece/adoptive daughter of police commissioner James Gordon.
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Cecilia Chung is a civil rights leader and activist for LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS awareness, health advocacy, and social justice. She is a trans woman, and her life story was one of four main storylines in the 2017 ABC miniseries When We Rise about LGBT rights in the 1970s and 1980s.
Alysia Yeoh is a fictional character created by writer Gail Simone for the Batgirl ongoing series published by DC Comics. She is Barbara Gordon's best friend and a trans woman. At the time of her debut appearance, she was noted for being the first major transgender character written in a contemporary context in a mainstream comic book. The first ever transgender wedding premiered in Batgirl #45.
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.
When We Rise is an eight-part American docudrama miniseries about the history of LGBT rights advocacy in the United States from the 1970s to the 2010s. It was created by Dustin Lance Black and stars Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Louise Parker, Michael Kenneth Williams, Austin P. McKenzie, Emily Skeggs, Jonathan Majors, Fiona Dourif, and Sam Jaeger among 30 others. The miniseries premiered on ABC on February 27, 2017, with the rest of its episodes airing March 1 to 3.
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