Trans actor Zoe Terakes called the news that censors in Kuwait banned their latest film “Talk to Me” a “heartbreaking” move, lamenting how such censorship harms LGBTQ individuals in the Middle Eastern country.
Terakes, who identifies as nonbinary and transmasculine, plays a teen who regularly attends parties in which partygoers use a cursed ceramic hand to summon dead spirits, with deadly consequences for those who use the hand for more than 90 seconds.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Sunday, Terakes noted that “Talk to Me” does not have any explicit LGBTQ themes like past films that have been banned in Kuwait, nor does their character share their trans identity.
“I am a trans actor who happened to get the role. I’m not a theme. I’m a person. Kuwait has banned this film due to my identity alone,” they wrote. “As much as it is very sad to be on the receiving end of this, what is even more heartbreaking is what this precedent means for the queer and trans people of Kuwait…Eliminating trans actors on screens will not eliminate trans people (as much as the government of Kuwait wishes it would) but it will eliminate a lot of hope.”
Censors in Kuwait have banned several prominent Hollywood films that have queer themes and characters, including “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Lightyear,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.”
“Talk to Me” is believed to be the first film the nation has banned based on an actor’s identity.
“Talk to Me” has been a critical and commercial hit for A24, grossing $22 million after two weekends at the North American box office to become the indie distributor’s top grossing film this year.
