Alexandra Billings is spilling secrets behind the casting of 2005’s “Transamerica”.
The actress spoke on SiriusXM’s “Bevelations” with Bevy Smith about the representation of transgender people in Hollywood and a big role she lost out on.
The host said that Billings, who is a transgender actress, mentioned being originally cast in the lead role of “Transamerica”, and while she respected Felicity Huffman, she wished that a trans woman played the role.
READ MORE: Ariana Grande Pledges Up To $1.5 Million To Support Trans Youth Facing ‘Disgraceful’ Legislation
“So when I was cast in that film, the writer – who was wonderful actually – was very honest with me and said ‘Alex, I can’t make a film with you in the lead, you’re not that famous. I can’t do it, so I’ve gotta cast Felicity if I’m gonna get the film made,'” recalled Billings. “I remember having that conversation with him and saying, ‘you know what, Duncan [Tucker], I’m heartbroken, but at least it will be made. At least it will be done.'”
She then revealed that she actually met Huffman at a dinner coincidentally years ago and the actress had no idea she had taken the role from Billings.
“We met randomly at this dinner, and we were randomly – once again, this is how the universe works – sat next to each other,” she said. “I told her this whole story and she had no idea. She was mortified. She said, ‘I didn’t know you had that role.'”
READ MORE: Trinity ‘The Tuck’ Taylor Comes Out As Trans Non-Binary
The 60-year-old didn’t blame Huffman for the casting but hoped that now that she knew, Huffman would help the case for casting trans people in movies.
“I said ‘That’s completely fine, but here’s the thing. You need to take this information deep into the Hollywood madness so that you can tell people that trans people not only exist, but that our stories need to be told by us,'” she added.
