--- title: Scarlett Johansson Won't Portray Transgender Man in Film description: Actress Scarlett Johansson said she is dropping out of a transgender role in 'Rub and Tug' after facing backlash from the LGBTQ community. canonical: https://time.com/5338524/scarlett-johansson-transgender-movie/ author: Gina Martinez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-13T20:16:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:50:49.161Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Scarlett Johansson Will No Longer Portray Transgender Man in Upcoming Film Following Backlash og:description: She was cast as a transgender man who owns a massage parlor og:url: https://time.com/5338524/scarlett-johansson-transgender-movie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec97f02965328e89/6989355686f68e35326e9a52/scarlett-johansson-transgender-film.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Scarlett-Johansson-Transgender-Film og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scarlett Johansson Will No Longer Portray Transgender Man in Upcoming Film Following Backlash twitter:description: She was cast as a transgender man who owns a massage parlor twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec97f02965328e89/6989355686f68e35326e9a52/scarlett-johansson-transgender-film.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scarlett Johansson Will No Longer Portray Transgender Man in _Rub and Tub_ Following Backlash by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Jul 13, 2018 8:16 PM UTC  Scarlett Johansson attends the American Museum Of Natural History's 2017 Museum Gala at American Museum of Natural History on November 30, 2017 in New York City. Scarlett Johansson attends the American Museum Of Natural History's 2017 Museum Gala at American Museum of Natural History on November 30, 2017 in New York City.Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Jul 13, 2018 8:16 PM UTC [Scarlett Johansson](http://time.com/5068769/scarlett-johansson-snl-ivanka-trump/) said she is dropping out of the film _Rub and Tub_, where she was set to play a transgender man, after facing intense backlash from the LGBTQ community. Johansson had signed on to portray Dante Tex Gill, a transgender man who owns a massage parlor, in Rupert Sanders’ upcoming film _Rub and Tub_. When Johansson’s role was announced, many took to social media to complain, calling the casting tone deaf and arguing that a trans actor should be given the opportunity to tell the story. > [](https://twitter.com/tracepeterson/status/1014285016854093825) > [](https://twitter.com/ZackFord/status/1014147963067781120) The 33-year-old actress initially defended her participation in the movie, pointing out other straight actors who had portrayed transgender characters in movies and TV shows recently. “Tell them they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.” she said in a July 2 statement to[ Bustle](https://www.bustle.com/p/scarlett-johanssons-new-role-may-be-a-transgender-man-twitter-has-thoughts-update-9664837). But on Friday, Johansson apologized for her initial statement, which she called “insensitive.” “In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project,” Johansson said in a statement to [Out.com](https://www.out.com/out-exclusives/2018/7/13/exclusive-scarlett-johansson-withdraws-rub-tug) “Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive. I have great admiration and love for the trans community and am grateful that the conversation regarding inclusivity in Hollywood continues.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5338524/scarlett-johansson-transgender-movie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5338524/scarlett-johansson-transgender-movie/"},"headline":"Scarlett Johansson Will No Longer Portray Transgender Man in Rub and Tub Following Backlash","datePublished":"2018-07-13T20:16:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:50:49.161Z","description":"She was cast as a transgender man who owns a massage parlor","url":"https://time.com/5338524/scarlett-johansson-transgender-movie/","keywords":["entertainment","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec97f02965328e89/6989355686f68e35326e9a52/scarlett-johansson-transgender-film.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Gina Martinez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec97f02965328e89/6989355686f68e35326e9a52/scarlett-johansson-transgender-film.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Scarlett-Johansson-Transgender-Film","caption":"Scarlett Johansson at American Natural History museum","creditText":"Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/entertainment/","name":"entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5338524/scarlett-johansson-transgender-movie/","name":"Scarlett Johansson Will No Longer Portray Transgender Man in Rub and Tub Following Backlash"}}]}] ```