I’ve never had a head for politics. Sure I have a view like most people; though as a rule I generally keep my opinions to myself. However, I am happy to speak up for Equality and Equity: - That everyone be treated as an equal with fairness and impartiality by everyone else, regardless of race, colour, status or sexual orientation. We still have a long way to go before this truly becomes a reality, but it seems universally agreed, that our pathway towards this Utopia is through educating people to overcome their fears, doubts, misunderstandings and peer pressure - a daunting task indeed. Most of us often have to rely on film and television to lead the way, but they don’t always get it right.
This was weighing heavily on my mind recently as I took a tube to the costume-fitting for my role in a new British television commercial. I was to play a transgender lady in a mainstream awareness campaign about to be launched by the Alzheimer’s Society. Having played Trans, female and drag in film and television before, I was confident of my experience, but wary of how I would be asked to represent the Trans community. Would they be expecting me to play female or pantomime drag? Stepping from Goodge Street station into the bright sunlight of Tottenham Court Road, my only certainty was that the commercial’s director would be BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Daniel Barber. You may know his vengeful thriller Harry Brown, starring Michael Caine. I was at least confident he would listen to my point of view.