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The Queen of Tears star, known Sunghoon, will play Hyun-ju, the streaming giant said on Wednesday (4 December).
In a meet-the-cast video, Sunghoon revealed that Hyun-ju, also known as Player 120, joins the murderous game to raise funds for her gender-affirming surgery.
The South Korean horror series involves financially desperate participants taking part in a series of children’s games in the hope of winning a grand prize of approximately £28 million ($35.5 million). Those who fail the tasks are violently killed off.
“Hyun-ju is a former special forces soldier and a transgender woman. She joins the game because she’s short on money for her gender-affirming surgery,” Sunghoon said. “Even though she faces prejudice and tough situations, she shows incredible strength, decisiveness and natural leadership. Through her resilience, she breaks down stereotypes and shines as an aspiring character.”
Despite Netflix clearly hoping the character becomes a fan favourite, the reaction online has been less than positive, with many wondering why, in 2024, the role of a trans woman has been given to a cis male actor.
“I’m crying. Instead of a transfem actor they decided to slap a wig on Park Sung-hoon and call it a day,” commented one fan on X/Twitter.
Another wrote: “This is not how you give representation. A cis man pretending to be part of a minority group just doesn’t sit right with me, especially when they could’ve hired an actual trans actress.”
Cis actors who have previously played trans characters, including Felicity Huffman, Eddie Redmayne and Rebecca Romijn, have since said that they wouldn’t do so now.
Some fans of the show have pushed back against the criticism though, suggesting that there are no prominent trans actresses in South Korea who could have filled the role.
One fan asked: “How do you expect them to find the trans actress who is willing to out herself to get the role, who hasn’t done any gender-affirming surgery, who can act the role and who is willing to withstand transphobic comments from people from [South Korea] and all over the world?”
Gender-reaffirming care is legal in South Korea for people over the age of 20, and a study conducted in 2019 found that public opinion about transgender people was more positive than negative. However, LGBTQ+ rights in general remain contentious and same-sex relationships are still not legally recognised.
Some people suggested casting Sunghoon was acceptable, considering the character is yet to receive gender-affirming surgery but other social media users were quick to criticise the comments.
“People in the quotes insisting that it totally makes sense to cast a cis man for this role because she’s trying to fund her gender-affirming surgery, no it doesn’t. Transition is more than the surgery and Park Sung-hoon isn’t doing any of it. Cast a trans actress,” demanded one person.
Others suggested that, at the very least, a cis woman could have been chosen for the role.
“Here’s the ranking of who should play trans women in media. 1. Actual fuking trans women. 2. Cis women (not great but good enough, I guess). 3. Men (never fking do this),” wrote another X user.
