Transparent: Jeffrey Tambor Quits Series

(from left to right) Alexandra Billings as Davina Rejennae and Trace Lysette as Shea. Photo Credit: Jennifer Clasen/Amazon Prime Video.

Given the accusations against him, Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor has made the decision to quit his role in the Amazon series as Maura Pfefferman.

The news of Tambor quitting the series comes following Transgender Awareness Week and one day before the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Tambor gave a statement to Deadline:

“Playing Maura Pfefferman on Transparent has been one of the greatest privileges and creative experiences of my life,” the Emmy winning actor told Deadline on Sunday. “What has become clear over the past weeks, however, is that this is no longer the job I signed up for four years ago,” Tambor added of his role as the lead on the Jill Soloway created show.

“I’ve already made clear my deep regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being aggressive, but the idea that I would deliberately harass anyone is simply and utterly untrue,” Tambor asserted as well. “Given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don’t see how I can return to Transparent.”

It is my hope that the Amazon is able to find a way to move the series forward in a way that allows for trans actors like Trace Lysette to have a larger role and for the ever-important trans stories to come to the forefront.  It is my hope that Tambor is the final cisgender actor to be cast in a transgender role in either television or film.  Hell, he said so himself during the 2016 Emmy Awards ceremony to give transgender talent a chance:

“Please give transgender talent a chance.  Give them auditions.  Give them their story.  Do that.  And also, one more thing.  I would not be unhappy if I was the last cisgender male to play a female transgender on television.”

Our stories are more important now than ever before.  Please give us the chance to tell those stories.  Tambor quitting the series should not force transgender talent or crew–who already have a tough enough job landing roles in film or television to lose jobs because of one cisgender man’s actions on the set.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.

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