Everything you need to know about trailblazing actress, model and ‘trans Barbie’ Hari Nef
Hari Nef doesn’t want her gender to be ‘a big deal’
Nef is very open about her transition and her life as a trans woman but she also wishes that her gender, or gender in general, wasn’t such a big deal.
“I think that often my work is obscured by my gender identity. I don’t want it to be a big deal … Identity is a dead end. It’s a snoozefest,” she told The Guardian.
“My identity will always inform my experience and shape my perception. But I am an unremarkable person. The more we fixate on it the less we, as a community, [will] feel normal and safe in our day-to-day lives. I just want to grab a meal and, you know, go on a date,” she continued.
Nef’s casting in Barbie had nothing to do with her being trans either, but rather her talent – hence why gender isn’t a big deal for her.
Even so, Nef is proud of being a trans woman and previously told The New York Times that her transition helped to elevate her confidence in acting: “Finding my new voice and my new body and a new set of roles to play… felt so much more authentic. I always joke that I’m a better actress than I am a male actor.”
