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More than 30 years before Emilia Pérez became a top awards contender, a different movie featuring a lead trans character spurred discussion and Oscar attention. Writer-director Neil Jordan’s 1992 drama The Crying Game centers on Jody (Forest Whitaker), a British soldier taken hostage by the IRA before befriending one of his captors, Fergus (Stephen Rea). Fergus later gets ensconced in Jody’s world and develops a relationship with Jody’s partner, Dil (newcomer Jaye Davidson), who is revealed to be a transgender woman.
The Irish-born Jordan and his team initially sought a woman to play Dil until Davidson, a model, was discovered at a party. The Crying Game did not make a big splash in the U.K., but when Miramax released it in the U.S. on Nov. 25, 1992, with savvy marketing that kept Dil’s identity as a trans woman a secret, the film collected $62 million ($140 million today), plus six Oscar noms, including best picture and supporting actor for Davidson. Former Miramax exec Gerry Rich told THR: “We called journalist by journalist by journalist, convincing them that the world didn’t want to know the ending of the film. It was all about showmanship and publicity and eventizing the film.”
During a 2017 panel, Jordan noted that the political themes made the movie a tougher sell in the U.K., whereas Americans were more focused on the “gender issues.” At the same event, Davidson — who appeared in one other film before quitting acting — was confident that The Crying Game could find success in the Trump era: “There are always intelligent and interesting people in any society, and it would appeal to them, regardless of the president.”
This story appeared in the Jan. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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