"I just want to be a girl and move on"

Hunter Schafer said in a new GQ cover story that she was strategic in trying to distract the public from her gender identity as a transgender person. The ‘Euphoria’ favorite doesn’t want her identity to be the only topic discussed about her and has sometimes tried to avoid saying the word ‘trans’ in interviews to ensure her career isn’t defined solely by their gender identity.

“It didn’t happen naturally, far from it. If I had let it, I would still put the title ‘Transsexual Actress’ before every article,” Schafer said.

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“As soon as I say it, it takes off,” she added of mentioning the word “trans” in her interviews. “It took me a while to learn it and it also took me a while to understand that I don’t want to be reduced to that, and I find that it devalues me and demeans me in terms of what I want TO DO. Especially after high school, I was tired of talking about it. I worked so hard to get where I am, I got past those really tough times in my transition, and now I just want to be a girl and finally move on. »

Schafer knows it’s a “privilege” to be able to shift perspectives beyond her gender identity, and she says, “It’s very intentional. I’ve been offered tons of trans roles, and I just don’t want to take them. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I know for a fact that I’m one of the most well-known transgender people in the media right now, and I feel a certain sense of responsibility, and maybe a little guilt, for not being more of a spokesperson,” Schafer concludes. “But ultimately, I really believe that not making it the centerpiece of what I do will allow me to go further. And I think going further and doing great stuff, for the sake of the ‘movement,’ will be much more helpful than talking about it all the time.”

Schafer’s first acting role was as Jules on “Euphoria,” the Emmy-winning HBO series that gave her a breakthrough. She also starred in and co-wrote the special “Fuck Anybody Who’s Not a Sea Blob” with series creator Sam Levinson, who is currently writing new scripts for the delayed third season. Schafer became a movie star last year with a supporting role in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” and now she’s headlining her first film in a leading role with Neon’s horror film “Cuckoo.”

Head to GQ’s website to read Schafer’s cover story in full.

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