When Showtime asked Billions star Asia Kate Dillon if they would like their work to be submitted for consideration at the Emmys, they were faced with a conundrum: which category to submit it in.
Dillon, who also won praise for their role in Orange is the New Black, identifies as gender non-binary and uses the pronoun ‘they’ for identification. Unable to choose between the male ( “supporting actor”) and female (“supporting actress”) categories, the performer decided to do a bit of research to challenge the strictly binary system at the Emmy Awards ceremony.
“What I learned through my research is that the word ‘actor,’ specifically in reference to those who performed in plays, came about in the late 1500s as a non-gendered word,” Dillon told Variety “It applied to all people, regardless of anatomical sex or gender identity.”
The word “actress” came much later, Dillon learned, to define anatomically female performers.
Armed with the facts, Dillon sent a passionate letter to the Television Academy questioning their category system. It read, in part:
“I’d like to know if in your eyes ‘actor’ and ‘actress’ denote anatomy or identity and why it is necessary to denote either in the first place? The reason I’m hoping to engage you in a conversation about this is because if the categories of ‘actor’ and ‘actress’ are in fact supposed to represent ‘best performance by a person who identifies as a woman’ and ‘best performance by a person who identifies as a man’ then there is no room for my identity within that award system binary.
Furthermore, if the categories of ‘actor’ and ‘actress’ are meant to denote assigned sex I ask, respectfully, why is that necessary?”
Much to their surprise, Dillon got an immediate response from the Academy opening up what she describes as a thoughtful and “productive” dialogue.
Dillon was pleased to find out they would be “free to choose the category they wish to enter.”
The Television Academy celebrates “inclusiveness, and as we discussed with Asia, there is no gender requirement for the various performer categories,” a spokesman told Variety “Asia is free to choose the category they wish to enter.”
Given the non-gendered origin of the word “actor”, Dillon ultimately decided to submit their work for consideration in the “supporting actor” category and later tweeted their praise to the Academy for their support
The @TelevisionAcad has said they require no anatomical or identity checks when submitting for a performing category. As it should be. https://t.co/yjWA984Njj
— Asia Kate Dillon (@AsiaKateDillon) April 6, 2017
The Master of None star said they hope this decision sparks a larger conversation about gender categories and the portrayal of non-binary folks in film and TV.
“I’m excited to see what other people think, and what they want to say once they become aware of this” she told Variety.