Pose star Angelica Ross misgendered and had a nude scene ‘sprung’ on her on the set of another TV show
Pose actress Angelica Ross (Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic)
Pose star Angelica Ross has spoken out about her degrading experience working on TV show Claws.
Before landing the role of Candy Ferocity on Pose, Ross played a three-episode role in the TNT series Claws, a comedy about a group of manicurists who launch their own criminal empire.
Pose star Angelica Ross speaks about ‘trauma’ of on-set experiences.
In an interview with Self published on 6 October, Ross opened up about her traumatic experiences on the set.
She explained: “Hollywood has not had is a lot of experience with trans people. Though they have a lot of poor experience of telling trans stories. So there has been this learning curve on both sides of the situation. People don’t hear me talk often about my experience of working on Claws. And there’s a reason for it.
“The trauma I experienced on that set is a drastic difference from the support that I felt on the set of Pose. Someone referred to me as ‘he’.
“I had a scene that was dropped on me. I knew the scene was coming and we had talked about it. I get to set and I’m now being asked to drop my underwear and wear a modesty garment – it’s basically this tape that goes from your front to your back.
“I was supposed to do a scene where I’m hovered over some guy and then flip off of him. It was one of the hardest things for me to do because I was pre-op. These garments aren’t made for trans people.”
Actress Angelica Ross attends the premiere of TNT’s Claws at Harmony Gold Theatre on June 1, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Ross continued: “I’m asked to do something that should have had a nudity rider ahead of time, but it’s sprung on me. I did not receive a nudity rider in advance nor was there a general nudity rider to my knowledge.
“There were so many things that happened on that set where I just did not feel affirmed. It’s this women-led show and yet the trans woman on the show is feeling s****y.”
Ross’ character was written out of Claws after the first season, blaming scheduling conflicts with her work on Pose at the time.
Emmys snub shows Hollywood ‘still wants to ignore trans performances’.
A Warner Bros spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that the scene Ross described was filmed, but was cut due to an issue with the overarching storyline.
Elsewhere in the interview, the Pose star addressed the repeated snubbing of the show’s transgender cast members by Emmys voters, with Billy Porter once again the only member of the cast to receive a nomination in 2020.
Angelica Ross, Janet Mock, Hailie Sahar and Mj Rodriguez speak onstage during the 2020 13th Annual ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images for ESSENCE)
She said: “This is not about an award show. It’s about a body of people who are voting. These are the people I work with. A lot of Hollywood still wants to ignore these trans performances. Right now, just like America, Hollywood loves symbols and symbolism more than it loves actual change.”
Ross does have some supporters in Holywood, though.
The actress continued: “I received flowers from Gwyneth Paltrow, saying, ‘This is just the beginning for you,’ and received messages from folks like Nicole Kidman, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and just from so many actresses I look up to – Wendi Anne McLendon-Covey, Jenn Lyon, who I worked with on Claws.
“These are folks who have been in my DMs the whole time, from them watching the performance and reaching out. I have made a vow personally that, unless I have to, I don’t watch any programming that has all-white casts. In 2020, there’s no excuse for that. Especially in fiction.”
