EXCLUSIVE: In 2020, Chanel Stewart was scrolling by means of X when she occurred upon a submit about how Pixar was searching for an genuine, 14-year-old transgender woman to voice a transgender teenager in a brand new animated collection.
Stewart, who at 14 had already logged a number of commercials, knew immediately that it was her function of a lifetime.
“I used to be precisely what they needed to a T, and that’s why it felt so proper. It felt simply so proper,” says Stewart, who’s a transgender woman from Los Angeles. “I instantly requested my mother if I may do it, as a result of I simply felt like if I don’t do that, it wouldn’t make sense. You understand what I imply?”
Stewart ultimately scored the voiceover job in Win or Lose, which revolves round a co-ed softball workforce at a center faculty named the Pickles within the week main as much as their huge championship recreation. Stewart couldn’t wait to share the information along with her pals.
“Oh my God, it was loopy,” the now 18-year-old recollects. “I wore it as a badge. I wore it with pleasure. I wore it with honor as a result of it meant a lot to me. The considered authentically portraying a transgender teenage woman made me actually glad. I needed to make this for transgender youngsters like me.”
So when Disney known as Monday evening to inform her mother, Keisha, that Win or Lose would now not embrace a transgender storyline, each she and Chanel had been heartsick. (Disney launched a press release that mentioned “in the case of animated content material for a youthful viewers, we acknowledge that many mother and father would favor to debate sure topics with their kids on their very own phrases and timeline.”)
“It was upsetting as a result of my daughter is transgender and that is her life. I felt prefer it was essential that we not conceal that reality,” Stewart’s mother Keisha tells Deadline. “There could also be some mother and father on the market who are usually not able to have that dialog, however that is the world that we reside in and everybody ought to be represented. Everybody deserves to be acknowledged. And it felt prefer it was simply one other setback for the LGBTQ neighborhood, as a result of it’s very exhausting on transgender youngsters … transgender individuals, interval. Particularly if you’re younger and also you’re attempting to determine the way to navigate this world that you simply reside in and have the ability to develop into your individual particular person.”
“I used to be very disheartened,” provides Stewart. “From the second I obtained the script, I used to be excited to share my journey to assist empower different trans youth. I knew this may be a vital dialog. Trans tales matter, they usually should be heard.”
By reducing the transgender storyline, Disney eradicated “a number of traces of dialogue” from an episode that references a personality’s gender id. Stewart was not at liberty to share particulars with Deadline about her character, however was informed by Disney that she’s “nonetheless part of the present closely.”
“It’s simply that my character would now be a cis woman, a straight cis woman,” says Chanel Stewart, who’s repped by KEY Expertise Administration and Modern Artists. “So yeah, that’s all they actually informed me and that I used to be nonetheless part of the present.”
However there’s one factor that Disney can’t take away from Stewart. “I’m positively one of many first [transgender girls] to do that!” says Stewart of her voiceover gig. “It’s a real honor to be part of queer historical past.”
Win or Lose, which options Will Forte because the voice of softball Coach Dan, will start to roll out on Disney+ starting February 19, 2025.