14 DAY TRIAL // Elle Fanning, the younger sister of Dakota Fanning, is putting her acting chops to a lot of use in her latest project: a drama about a teenage boy who transitions from female to male. It’s called “About Ray” and it’s already got Oscar buzz written all over it, starting with the first official trailer, which premiered over the weekend.
Ray is played by Elle: he is a 17-year-old boy who knows he must transition to male, because that’s who he really is. The film seems to dedicate a lot of time as well on showing how his family is dealing with the transition.
Notable appearances include Naomi Watts as the mother and Susan Sarandon as the grandmother. Tate Donovan plays the absentee father who refuses to sign the legal papers allowing the minor Ray to start the transition.
Directed by Gaby Dellal, “About Ray” will be out in theaters next month and it’s already generated some controversy online. For starters, it rubbed the LGBT community the wrong way for not featuring an actual trans-man in the role of Ray. This is a debate that’s been had before, with gay characters played by straight actors.
Secondly, it is said that it’s the result of Hollywood’s effort to capitalize on the trans “trend,” which has seen more productions on the topic than in any other year, especially on TV. “About Ray” seems to shoot even higher than that, straight for that Oscar.
Watch the first trailer below.
