Why did Guy Pearce apologise for this trans tweet?

Hollywood actor Guy Pearce has apologised for posting a pro-trans tweet. That’s where we’re at now with the culture war. The Twitterstorms don’t even need to make sense anymore, as the bizarre case of the LA Confidential star’s recent comments about trans actors has made abundantly clear.

Pearce took to Twitter earlier this week and posed a string of very good questions. ‘If the only people allowed to play trans characters are trans folk, then are we also suggesting the only people trans folk can play are trans characters?’, he asked. ‘Surely that will limit your career as an actor? Isn’t the point of an actor to be able to play anyone outside your own world?’

Pearce was responding to the ongoing debate about identity-specific casting, and the backlash to so-called cis (a person whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth) actors being cast in transgender roles. In 2018, Scarlett Johansson stepped back from drama flick Rub and Tug, after her casting in the role of a trans mobster sparked an almighty online backlash.