Scott Kirkland
Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson, who plays a cisgender character named Van on the thrilling drama but who in gender nonbinary in their real life, has elected to remove themselves from awards contention for the Emmys this year due to the awards’ gendered categories, the actor told Variety in an interview published Wednesday.
“There’s not a place for me in the acting categories,” Hewson said, adding that they’d shared their decision to opt out with the producers of the show and with the network, and that their fellow cast members had supported their decision. “It would be inaccurate for me to submit myself as an actress. It neither makes sense for me to be lumped in with the boys. It’s quite straightforward and not that loaded. I can’t submit myself for this because there’s no space for me.”
It was only as recently as 2017 that Asia Kate Dillon became the first nonbinary actor to play a nonbinary character on a major TV show—Billions on Showtime—and later wrote a letter to the Screen Actor Guild Awards Committee, requesting that the body abolish its award ceremony’s categories divided by gender. Their request was ultimately not honored.