Disney+ Willow Series Casts Trans Actress Talisa Garcia

As many individuals proceed to sentence Disney’s lack of motion relating to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” invoice, Lucasfilm has quietly introduced that transgender British actress Talisa Garcia has been solid within the Disney+ sequence Willow. Deadline experiences that Garcia will play a cisgender lady with only some talking traces, and that she might solely seem in a single episode.

While this announcement is simply now formally public, it was apparently within the works for a month or so, effectively earlier than the backlash surrounding the “Don’t Say Gay” invoice started. Garcia’s casting is historic, however it’s such a low bar for Disney to step over that the celebration round her function feels slightly performative. Garcia is a wonderful actress, judging by the important acclaim that she generated throughout her time on the British present Baptiste. She deserves this win, however within the grand scheme of Disney’s silence, walkbacks, and turnarounds relating to queer and transgender rights, contributions, artists, and workers, it doesn’t really feel like Disney has earned any kudos right here.

The finest actress for the half received the half, and that’s the lengthy and wanting it. I don’t wish to take something away from Garcia as a trans lady of colour—she has little question labored extremely onerous whereas dealing with plenty of discrimination alongside the way in which. This is a step towards higher inclusivity and illustration on display screen, full cease. But if we reward Disney when it feels just like the studio, particularly one as giant because it, is doing the naked minimal, actual change can be even slower to reach and are available at increasingly incremental values. We have a handful of actors who’ve taken on the burden of being groundbreaking firsts for Disney—one thing that Disney absolutely doesn’t deserve, contemplating the studio’s lack of assist for queer and trans rights over the previous few years, a lot much less the previous few months. The publicity and visibility of queer and trans folks with out authorized and social protections will solely serve to profit straight and cis-passing people, and can frequently different any queer one that doesn’t match that extremely seen mode.

Accurate, genuine visibility and illustration is vitally, existentially essential. Cisgender folks can’t ignore us if we live our lives simply as a lot as they’re, if we’re current in not solely our tales however each story. However, Disney’s casting selections should not activism, and so they shouldn’t be handled as such.

Willow is slated to reach on Disney+ later this yr.

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