Ellie Desautels Talks NBC's 'Rise' and the Need For More Trans Stories Onscreen

Having a trans performer in a trans role may seem like an obvious choice, but that’s not always the case. Actors who are cisgender, people who aren’t trans, are often cast in trans parts such as Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry or Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, which many people argue takes opportunities away from transgender people.

Seeing trans people in trans roles is significant, perhaps now more than ever, since the current political climate has fostered anti-LGBTQ sentiments in the form of bathroom bills, trans-exclusion in the military and pervasive violence against trans people. According to a report from LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD, there has been a significant increase in LGBTQ people reporting discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity since 2017. The report also found that non-LGBTQ people feel less comfortable interacting with the LGBTQ community, rising sharply in 2017.

In honor of Transgender Visibility Day on March 31, an event that celebrates the accomplishments of trans people, VICE Impact spoke with Desautels (who prefers them/they/their pronouns) about their new role on RISE. They walked us through the nuances of bringing an authentic trans character to life and need for a greater presence of trans people in popular culture.

VICE Impact: How was your experience working on RISE in such a groundbreaking role? Was there a defining moment for you?

Desautels: I think just getting the part. What’s interesting is that my life kind of came full circle, regarding trans representation on screen. I became so passionate about trans representation, so getting the role was like, “Oh my god! What am I going to do to make this character better than anyone has ever seen a trans young character on TV.”

It was so exciting to think that I was going to be a part of that. A part of impacting youth in a positive way. So that was really the defining moment for me— just getting the part because I was going to be a part of something special.

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What has been your experience as a trans or gender-non-binary actor?

It’s been good so far. RISE is my first paying job. I have been an actor otherwise at college. So far, it’s really fantastic. I’m having the time of my life doing what I love as a career— it’s really cool. Specifically, as a non-binary person on set, it was a little difficult in terms of crew and people misgendering me.

Sometimes it could get in the way of my job where I kind of had to advocate for myself and I had to teach people. But my cast was amazing with my pronouns. Having people knowing my pronouns and correcting others was really fantastic. And I was always able to count on people, correcting others when people were misgendering me when I wasn’t there. Nobody was misgendering me maliciously and I know that.

Can you tell us more about your character? In which ways are you both alike and which ways are you different?

When I started developing Michael I thought of him mostly as me. Obviously, he’s a trans boy and I’m non-binary so we differ when it comes to labeling our gender identity. Michael is inspired by my transmasculine identity because I also identify as transmasculine and he was inspired by trans teens who I had the pleasure of speaking with through Facebook.

With our different labels, Michael and I co-exist in the same trans experience— my trans experience. He’s a trans boy but he has a feminine side. He doesn’t just like boy things. He’s very much like me because I’m playing him. That’s kind of how I connect to all my characters in a way. I don’t know any other experience but mine so I put myself in them— in my characters.

What can we expect to see from your character throughout the show as a representation of trans or gender-non-binary experiences?

There are a few moments on the show when he’s getting bullied, I’m not going to give too much away, but I realized that most people would play that scene like my character’s not going to feel good about that [, or] my character is going to feel really beaten down. And I didn’t do that. And I don’t think that would be a good message to share with young trans viewers.

So when I saw that [in the script] I was like Michael’s not going to take this crap. He’s going to look at them in the face like why are you saying any of this to me. I wanted to make him unapologetic and strong and someone who stands up for himself and doesn’t take garbage people say about him. I never really cared what people think about me and I stand up for myself. So I wanted to share that part of me with Michael and that strength with trans kids watching the show.

Why do you feel it’s important to have queer representation on screen?

My story shows why it’s important. I was in high school, I didn’t know anything about trans people, I didn’t know the words, I didn’t know the community, I wasn’t aware of any of it. I was shown a trans character [on TV] and they made it look like it was horrible. And the trans person that I was in high school — but didn’t know that I was — almost came out and I was scared of it and I pushed it back in because the character [on TV] showed that it wasn’t ok and that you were going to go through a lot of hardship if you were that kind of person.

Also, causal queer representation of a character who just happens to be trans — just being a part of them but not being their whole story— that’s important too. I think that’s maybe the most important.

In this polarized political climate, how do you feel that people can encourage others to be more tolerant?

I think the trans community has a responsibility to advocate for themselves as much as they can, but really it’s up to cisgender allies to talk about trans people in a normal way and learn as much as they can about trans people and how to talk about the community and the issues that we’re facing today and to show people that we’re regular people, who live regular lives and just want basic human rights.

What are issues affecting the trans community that you hope people will understand and be supportive of after watching RISE?

A lot trans people are being killed for who they are. So many of us, especially trans femme people of color, are in so much danger just walking out of their homes. People just need to understand how tragic that is, and I want people to watch RISE and see that these people who are being killed were once teenagers finding themselves, having a good time, doing drama— it could be Michael.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Watch new episodes of RISE on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm CT on NBC, or on NBC’s streaming platforms. Take action in support of the trans community by supporting the National Center for Transgender Equality, an organization that fights for rights of trans people across the country.