BAFTA Breakthrough: What It Feels Like For A Girl star urges viewers to ‘show up’ for trans people

Ellis Howard is keenly aware of what it means that his role in What It Feels Like For A Girl has earned BAFTA Breakthrough recognition.

Speaking about the show, with a script by a trans woman and LGBTQ+ voices at its heart, the Liverpudlian actor says: “It feels like a rallying cry. It’s queer, working class and has colour and sexiness and anarchy.”

Based on trans author Paris Lees’ bestselling coming-of-age memoir, the BBC drama chronicles 15-year-old Byron (Howard) longing to escape their small working-class town. The teen finds a group of kindred spirits while on a journey of gender and sexuality self-discovery. However, after being seduced by the rebellious Liam (Jake Dunn), life takes an unexpected turn. 

Howard has received acclaim, including from BAFTA Breakthrough, a year-round initiative that supports up-and-coming talent, supported by Netflix. Florence Pugh, Tom Holland and Josh O’Connor have all had similar recognition.

Although What It Feels Like For A Girl aired in June, its resonance continues months later. “It’s mad our small BBC Three show is getting this validation, it feels so affirming,” Howard exclusively tells PinkNews. “I can speak for all cast, we weren’t thinking about how it was going to be received, we all felt an incredible presence in it.”

‘I’m so aware I’m a cis boy, taking up space here’

Speaking from Down Under, the star continues: “[The show] dares to tell the truth and people in Australia can also deeply resonate. I’m constantly wowed by how much people want to chat about it.”

The show holds particular power right now, given the anti-trans rhetoric in the UK and beyond. “I’m so aware I’m a cis boy, taking up space here,” Howard says. “[What] I would love people to take away from the show is that we really need people to show up, especially cis people, for our trans siblings in what feels like a real uphill fight in this precarious political moment we are in.”

It’s about ensuring trans people are seen, loved, supported but also paid and getting access to opportunities. “If I can champion anything, it’s about knowing when to stand up and use your voice and to know when to hand the microphone to someone who knows about this a little bit more than I do.”

Part of that understanding, he adds, is deferring to Lees’ voice, as the author and the show’s creator. “I’ve learnt to be more unapologetic, to tap into a defiant side of me. It was there when I was 14, which got blunted along the way somehow. Now, I feel like I’ve re-met myself. That’s because of seeing people like Paris doing things I want to do. She does it, stood in her own class identity. Byron gave me a passport back to myself.”

With the spotlight on him, Howard is keen to emphasise the importance of collective creativity and mentorship and realises that the ladder he is climbing has been supported by his fellow creatives. His career has been the result of free arts training that “changed my life”.

From Rare Studio’s teacher Lindsay Inglesby to Beautiful Thing‘s Jonathan Harvey (“It was like he’d been observing my life”), creative community is, according to Howard, “so important in galvanising and unionising”. He goes on to say: “If you have a position of power, your responsibility is to make it easier for the next generation to get into the arts, or any field.”

That feeling is shared by Daf James, a 2024 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort for Lost Boys & Fairies, who said the initiative was “a fantastic experience”, adding: “The friendships I’ve formed, along with the training and knowledge-sharing opportunities, have been invaluable. I feel incredibly lucky to have met a few of my heroes through the scheme, connections that have grown into meaningful relationships.”

Although What It Feels Like For A Girl put Howard on the map, it feels like only the start. He and Netflix are developing and writing a semi-autobiographical piece about growing up in Liverpool. It’s another project, rooted in genuine authenticity, a facet Howard seems drawn to in his work. “I started writing it in lockdown, it’s been a mad journey… I feel incredibly lucky and excited. I’m obsessed with it.”

All episodes of What It Feels Like For A Girl are streaming on BBC iPlayer now.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.