Netflix’s Glamorous star Miss Benny comes out as trans: ‘I’m a proud person’
Glamorous star Miss Benny has come out publicly as transgender. (Getty)
Glamorous actress Miss Benny has come out publicly as transgender in a touching personal essay.
The star of Netflix’s new comedy-drama, which follows gender non-conforming make-up artist Marco (Miss Benny) as they are taken under the wing of dazzling cosmetics mogul Madolyn Addison (Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall), took the “daunting” step of opening up about her own gender journey on Monday (23 June).
Writing in TIME, Miss Benny shared that she has been “privately living” as a trans woman “for the last few years”.
“I’m a proud person, but admittedly it’s still a bit daunting to say those words publicly,” wrote the 24-year-old, who uses she/her pronouns.
Miss Benny, who began her career as a singer on YouTube before transitioning into acting with roles on TV’s Love, Victor and American Horror Stories, went on to reflect on her difficult childhood growing up queer in a religious Texas household.
“By 8 years old I was praying every night to wake up and somehow be like my sisters,” she recalled. “In the morning I would wake up in the same body, and cry.
“Over time I became highly aware of how unwelcome LGBT topics would be in my hometown. And so I kept my head down and looked for an immediate escape.”
Miss Benny originally landed the role of Marco in Glamorous in 2019 before coming to terms with her trans identity – but after the pandemic hit, her gender dysphoria intensified.
She revealed that was inspired to embrace her trans identity after watching a poignant interaction about transitioning between two trans characters on the 2020 LGBTQ+ show Veneno.
“I [became] painfully aware of how much time I felt I had wasted by not transitioning sooner. And so as time went by, I privately transitioned in my day-to-day life,” Miss Benny explained.
When the time eventually came to shoot Glamorous, Miss Benny met with series creator Jordon Nardino and informed him of her transition, before a plan was devised with executive producer Kameron Tarlow to make the character of Marco – who was originally written as cisgender – into a gender non-conforming character.
“These two men changed my life the moment they heard my story and promised to protect and support me in telling it the way I wanted to,” Miss Benny reflected.
She continued: “[Their] only concern was ever about my own personal comfort and, funnily, whether or not the pitch of my voice would change over the course of filming (lol!). And so, from that moment on, I worked closely with Jordon to ensure the authenticity of Marco’s identity in the show.”
While Netflix has been criticised for unceremoniously axing a number of LGBTQ+ shows, Glamorous has been showered with praise by LGBTQ+ fans since it arrived on Netflix last Thursday (22 June), boasting a brilliant supporting cast of queer talent.
In an era of increasing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment across the US, Miss Benny admitted they didn’t know if they were “ready to be this vulnerable”, but concluded that “this fear is exactly why I wanted to include my transition in the show: Because I know that when I was a terrified queer kid in Texas, it was the queer joy I found in droplets online that guided me to my happiness.
“And if someone like me is out there feeling the weight of being othered, I want them to have a place they can see someone like us thrive and be celebrated.”
Glamorous is available to watch on Netflix.
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