Disney Casts Transgender Actor for Star Wars Role
The once family-friendly company Disney has now cast a transgender-identifying actor to play a lead role in its upcoming Star Wars show.
Abigail Thorn, a biological man who identifies as a woman, will play a character named Ensign Eurus in The Acolyte, a Star Wars show that will be available on Disney+. The show’s lead role will be played by Amanda Steinberg, an actress who identifies as non-binary.
Thorn is widely known for his Youtube channel “Philosophy Tube.” The channel includes lectures on philosophy by Thorne and has gained nearly 1.5 million subscribers. In 2021, Thorne posted a video announcing that he is transgender. His video also includes the advocation of puberty blockers for minors.
It’s no secret that Disney has an agenda to increase the number of LGBTQ+ actors and actresses in their projects. Last year, a Disney executive producer was exposed for revealing her team has a “not at all secret gay agenda” to “add queerness” to children’s programming.
Since then, Disney has cast a number of individuals who identify as transgender or nonbinary. The company has hired non-binary actress Zoe Terakes for a role in a Marvel series, and transgender actor Talisa Garcia to play a role in their series Willow.
Disney has doubled down on its efforts to be socially progressive and the financial consequences have been significant; it is estimated that Disney has lost $900 million on their last eight studio releases. Their most recent Movie “Elemental,” which features a non-binary character, had the worst opening weekend of any Pixar movie.
