Oscar Bait Trailer Alert: Elle Fanning Plays a Trans Teen in 'About Ray'

The film, starring Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, and Tate Donovan, is out September 18.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Though trans visibility in pop culture has gone up in the past few months (Caitlyn JennerOITNB, this year's indie hit Tangerine), transgender characters in mainstream Hollywood are still quite invisible. In fact, a new study released earlier this week showed that within the top 100 Hollywood films released in 2014, there was not a single trans character (and only 19 total gay/lesbian/bisexual ones). 

Maybe those numbers can change. Just in time for Oscar bait season a new trailer for About Ray has dropped. In the film Elle Fanning plays a teenager who was born a girl but wants to transition from female to male. His mother (Naomi Watts) is supportive—and has to do a lot of explaining to grandma Susan Sarandon ("Why can't she just be a lesbian?"; BECAUSE, GRANDMA)—but Ray (born Ramone) finds a hard time getting support and parental signature from his absentee father (Tate Donovan). Watch the compelling trailer above. 

The movie, directed by Gaby Dellal, is out September 18. For more trans dramas, also be on the lookout for the Eddie Redmayne film The Danish Girl, out November 27.

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