Moxie star Josie Totah says cisgender men shouldn’t be awarded for ‘putting on a wig’ and playing trans parts

Moxie star Josie Totah says that award shows need to stop praising cisgender male actors for playing transgender women.

The former Disney Channel star, who is trans, has appeared in recent years in shows such as Saved by the Bell and Big Mouth. She is now one of the stars of Moxie, Amy Poehler’s feature directorial debut for Netflix.

Speaking to HuffPost UK, the 19-year-old said that she’d enjoyed playing a character in the high-school drama whose gender identity was “acknowledged” but accepted as part of the world.

“The only way we’re going to be able to move forward, not only as an industry but as a society, is by accurate representation,” Totah said.

“And we need to stop awarding white cis straight men for putting on a wig and make up and acting trans,” she continued.

“It is extremely imperative that trans people get to play trans roles and cis people should take a step back.”

Read more: Amy Poehler’s Moxie is the blueprint for a revolution – review

In 2013, Jared Leto won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a trans woman in Dallas Buyers Club. Eddie Redmayne was also nominated for Best Actor in 2016 for playing a trans woman in The Danish Girl.

Moxie is available to stream on Netflix now.