Here’s Scarlett Johansson’s Sarcastic Response to Critics of Her Casting in ‘Rub & Tug’

Johansson detects a double standard

scarlett johansson women's marchscarlett johansson women's march
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Scarlett Johansson had a sarcastic response Tuesday to critics who object to her playing a real person who may have been a transgender man in her new film “Rub & Tug.”

The film is based on the life of Dante “Tex” Gill, a massage parlor owner in Pittsburgh in the 1970s and ’80s, who, according to an obituary, was known as “the woman who prefers to be known as a man.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obit also said Gill may have undergone “the initial stages of a sex change that made her appear masculine.”

Online critics took that to mean Gill was a transgender man, and questioned whether Johansson, a  woman, is the right person for the role. The actress detected a double standard.

She told Bustle, via a representative, that any questions “can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”

All have portrayed trans characters on film. Representatives for Johansson did not immediately respond to TheWrap for comment.

The film is directed by Rupert Sanders, who worked with Johansson on 2017’s “Ghost in the Shell.” The character was Asian in the original manga comics, which earned Johansson criticisms of white washing.

Here’s some online reaction to Johansson’s casting:

https://twitter.com/MagsVisaggs/status/1014208146540253187

https://twitter.com/PenPhiVA/status/1014261712613068800

https://twitter.com/cinemabite/status/1014252707295703041

https://twitter.com/guapitx/status/1014200030004154368

https://twitter.com/elbirdilara/status/1013946959638515712

Brian Welk

Film Reporter • brian.welk@thewrap.com • Twitter: @brianwelk

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