Hollywood’s love affair with non-binary: After MeToo scandals Tinseltown is desperate to appear woke

It is a transatlantic love story that has been going on for years.

From Kate Winslet’s star turn in Titanic to Keira Knightley’s career launch in Bend It Like Beckham, Tinseltown has always had “a thing” for British actresses.

Now, however, Hollywood is abuzz with talk of a new ‘British invasion’, by a generation of young stars who have landed the best roles in the biggest hits on TV and movies, but who eschew convention when speaking. openly to have a ‘liquid’. gender.

Leading this new non-binary Brit Pack are Bella Ramsey, who has been praised by critics for her brilliant portrayal of Ellie in Sky Atlantic’s post-apocalyptic drama The Last Of Us, and Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana in the latest series of The Crown, and identifies as ‘queer’.

Once a term of homophobic abuse, queer is now an umbrella term widely used by people who are not heterosexual or who believe their biological sex does not align with a male or female gender, hence non-binary.

And the reason why these ‘unconventional’ British actresses have been so successful?

Ultimately, this is the Hollywood money machine. According to a leading producer at the Walt Disney Company, the largest movie studio on the planet: ‘It’s all about results.

“These days, it’s all about being LGBTQ, non-binary, gender fluid, pansexual. The young people who make up the public today don’t want to be labeled or pigeonholed into a specific box.’

The source explained that the race to cast non-binary British actors followed the outcry over the #MeToo and ‘#OscarsSoWhite’ scandals: “When #MeToo happened, it sparked a debate that just highlighted how white, mostly male, still had power in the studios That hasn’t changed, but those white men wanted to hold on to their jobs, so Hollywood suddenly and cynically woke up.

He added: “The British have always had a much higher level of training, and suddenly this new generation began to get leadership roles in some of the biggest projects in the city.”

Here are the top seven lights of the non-binary Brit Pack:

Cara Delevingne, 30

‘I’m pansexual’

Starring: Suicide Squad, Carnival Row, Anna Karenina

The trailblazing supermodel-turned-actress was one of the first big names to speak openly about her sexuality and gender fluidity.

“The thing is with me, I change a lot,” Cara told Variety magazine in 2020. “Some days I feel more like a woman. Some days I feel more like a man. I will always be, I think, pansexual.

‘However one defines oneself – “they” or “he” or “she” – I fall in love with the person. People were saying, ‘So you’re gay?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m not gay.’ ‘

Cara has been romantically linked to Harry Styles, Will Smith’s son Jaden, singer St Vincent, actress Ashley Benson, and singer Miley Cyrus. She is now dating musician Minke, 31, whose real name is Leah Mason.

Bella Ramsey, 19

‘My gender has always been very fluid’

Starring: The last of us, Game of Thrones

She landed her first major role as the young noblewoman Lyanna Mormont on Game Of Thrones. But it’s as Ellie, the feisty protagonist of The Last Of Us, a girl who has immunity against a fungal plague decimating the world, that the Nottingham-born actress has become one of Hollywood’s hottest young stars.

An agent told The Mail on Sunday that Bella is now being offered TV show roles for $500,000. [£416,800] an episode,” and “you’re being inundated with movie offers.”

Bella recently revealed to The New York Times: ‘I guess my gender has always been very fluid, I’m very much just one person. Being gendered is not something I particularly like.

Last week, he said after using a non-binary pronoun ‘they’ ‘a lot of times recently, I’ve been saying use ‘she’, because it’s easier.’

Emma Corrin, 27

‘I’m queer and non-binary’

Starring: The Crown, Lady Chatterley’s lover

She came out as ‘queer and non-binary’ in July 2021 and later posted a selfie in a wedding dress with the caption ‘Ur fave queer bride’. Emma said: “In my opinion, gender is not something that feels fixed and I don’t know if it ever will be.”

‘There may always be some flow there for me.

“I feel much more seen when they call me ‘they’, but my closest friends call me ‘she’ and I don’t care because I know they know me.”

Last year, Emma posed for a publicity photo wearing a chest girdle — breast-flattening straps of fabric often worn when a biological woman is transitioning.

Emma has said: “If you have a platform and can use it, that’s obviously very important.”

Emma D’Arcy, 30

‘non-binary’

Starring: dragon house

She started acting at Oxford University and became a global star playing Rhaenyra Targaryen in the Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon. She has described feeling pressure about sexual orientation.

‘When I was starting out, I really felt that I had to present myself as a woman to be successful in this industry. It wasn’t sustainable and I stopped pretending.

“Weirdly, at the time, I was nominated for Best Actress for the Golden Globes. [2023]which is like beautifully ironic.

“Most importantly, to me, it means that the space for trans people and gender non-conforming people is getting bigger and bigger, so I feel very privileged. In terms of queerness, the only good reason to be non-binary, publicly and professionally, is that I hope it allows younger people who feel similar to know that there is room in this industry for them.

Eliot Sumner, 32

Identifies as ‘non-gender’

Starring: No Time to Die, The Knights, Infinite Storm

Daughter of rocker Sting and Trudie Styler and born biologically female. Eliot has said: ‘I don’t believe in any specification. I think I was always trying to figure out maybe… what I am.

“But I don’t think anyone should feel pressured to have some kind of label or tag on them. We should treat everyone equally. I don’t like being attributed to a specific thing. We are all human beings.

In a long-term relationship with Austrian model Lucie Von Alten.

She hunts, 24

‘Queer and happy to be out’

Starring: Lady Chatterley’s lover, Les Miserables (2012 film), Cold Feet, Dickinson

She started acting when she was young, debuting in the 2011 supernatural horror film Intruders, which helped Ella land a role in the big screen version of Les Miserables.

Ella was then given roles on ITV’s Cold Feet and Endeavor before Hollywood producers took notice. Announced on social media in 2021: “I’m queer and happy to be out.”

She is dating Thomas Bartlett, an American singer and pianist who performs as the Doveman.

Jameela Jamil, 37

‘Pansexual’

Starring: The Good Place, Marvel’s She-Hulk: Lawyer

Jamil, the first solo presenter on BBC Radio 1’s Chart Show, moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and landed a leading role on NBC’s The Good Place. She came out as ‘queer’ after being appointed as a judge on Legendary, an American reality show.

Jamil said he had not previously discussed his sexuality because “it’s not easy to be accepted within the South Asian community.”

Since 2015, she has been in a relationship with Mercury Prize-winning musician James Blake.