Paulina Lule speaks with Oliver Hall & gives a candid account of being an out, non-binary actor of colour in Hollywood, how things have evolved and the glass ceilings that remain for non-binary representation.
It’s a scorching hot day in their hometown of Wisconsin when I connect with Paulina over Zoom. They’re concerned that the open window next to them might cause some sound issues but doesn’t have air conditioning. “That doesn’t sound very glamorous for a Hollywood actor,” I joke. “I’m an eco-friendly environmentalist, hippie Hollywood actor,” they remind me.
Paulina tells me that the movie that made them want to be an actor was The Matrix.
“When I saw Trinity running across the rooftops, I wanted to be Trinity. It was revolutionary at the time, and it blew my mind. It was one of the first movies that had extensive behind-the-scenes footage on the DVD, which explained things like how they filmed the ‘bullet’ scenes. It was so cool, it convinced me I wanted to make movies!”
These days, Paulina’s resume includes high-rating dramas (Scandal), long long-running soaps (General Hospital), Marvel action series (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and acclaimed independent films (like Shia LaBeouf’s Honey Boy). Most recently, they star with Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker in the suspense series Emperor of Ocean Park, which revolves around the death of a black nominee to America’s Supreme Court. All this was achieved as an out, non-binary actor.
“Responsibility is something that you don’t always want, but you just have, based on your position,” they share, reflecting on people’s understanding of non-binary identities.
“The general public is still very much like, I don’t quite get it. It ranges from ‘I don’t get it and I’m hostile’ to ‘I don’t get it and I’m just confused.’ As much as I wish I didn’t have to explain it, I’m starting to understand that, if someone doesn’t, we’re always going to live in this kind of muddied world. So I’m happy to take on that mantle. That was my experience on set with Emperor of Ocean Park. For most of the people that I worked with, it was their first time working with a non-binary person, which led to a lot of confusion. On top of that, I was playing a woman, which made it even more confusing.”
When asked how that makes them feel, Paulina admits it’s ‘emotional labour’.
“I approached it with a little more grace than I always want to give… It depends on the day. Take my castmates, for instance – they were on board immediately. So there are days like that, and then there are days when it’s constant misgendering, whether it’s on purpose or by accident.”
Paulina believes that the emotional impact of others’ opinions is lessened by being comfortable with their own identity.
“The thing about realising that I’m non-binary is that I’ve fully been allowed to be myself. So I don’t feel a lot of angst about people making mistakes about who I am, because I know who I am.”
One particular moment that helped cement this mindset was when Paulina came out to their fiancé, a moment they describe as ‘terrifying’.
“Let me preface this by saying ‘he never would have thought any of these things.’ This was all my junk that I was going through, but I didn’t want him to think I bamboozled him into marriage. While deep down I always knew I was non-binary, I just didn’t know how to articulate it until much later in my life… He just said, ‘But you’re still you, right?’”
Representation of non-binary actors in Hollywood is riding high. Emma Corrin has a significant role in the world’s number one film, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Emma Darcy remains the fan-favourite protagonist in Game of Thrones’ massive spin-off, House of the Dragon.
As well as both being called Emma, the two actors also look quite similar, leading Paulina to admit:
“Hollywood representation of non-binary people is still very one note.”
“I always make the joke, I’m your standard enby (non-binary) with the assigned female-at-birth (afab) buzz cut! That’s something that can be expanded and would help the public understand that being non-binary isn’t about slotting into this other box. Non-binary is expansive,” Paulina points out.
Paulina also feels that more can be done with the writing of non-binary characters, suggesting that many get changed to non-binary in script rewrites “because there’s nothing really about the character that has to be cisgendered,” as opposed to being specifically written from an enby perspective.
Paulina also notes that non-binary actors who are assigned male-at-birth (amab) are largely invisible in mainstream productions.
“I don’t think that the public comfort with that is there yet. An androgynous-looking, assigned female at birth person is a little more palatable,” they note, adding that they are also one of the few non-binary actors of colour.
“Janelle Monae is doing great things but came out after they were already star… I am one of the first (that I know of) non-binary people that were not famous and cast into a lead role on a TV show!”
Paulina describes being part of a large, predominantly African-American cast on Emperor of Ocean Park as a ‘treasure’.
“Everyone just implicitly understands certain things about you because you are in the community. It’s something that should be treasured. Unfortunately, it’s an exception and not a rule.”
Paulina is talking to me from the same state where former president Donald Trump was nearly assassinated, so naturally the topic of America’s election comes up, and I highlight my shock that in 2024, the right to an abortion remains a key election issue when women make up the majority of the population.
“The way I look at it is a little more radical,” Paulina tells me coyly. “I don’t believe in gender at all. I believe it’s a construct that was created, similar to race, as a means of control. There are people, men, who are tasked with upholding it, and there are people, women, who are tasked with being the ones who are oppressed and controlled.”
“The reason why there’s a lot of backlash in this country, specifically about gender non-conforming people and trans people, is because they lose that control. If I say I’m not a woman, then the laws that you make about women’s bodies no longer apply to me. That messes with their system,” they tell me, reflecting on the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ hate.
However, Paulina believes a change is coming as more people wake up to the world’s inequalities.
“A lot of people have stopped using the term people of colour and have now started using ‘people of the global majority’. White people are a minority in this world, and it messes with a lot of people’s heads. Race was created for control. Gender is created for control. Where you have this minority class that oppresses the majority.”
We will see which side gets the majority of votes at the US presidential election on Tuesday 5 November.
Emperor of Ocean Park is streaming on Amazon Prime.
