EXCLUSIVE: In 2020, Chanel Stewart was scrolling by way of X when she occurred upon a put up about how Pixar was on the lookout for an genuine, 14-year-old transgender lady to voice a transgender teenager in a brand new animated sequence.
Stewart, who at 14 had already logged a couple of commercials, knew immediately that it was her function of a lifetime.
“I used to be precisely what they wished to a T, and that’s why it felt so proper. It felt simply so proper,” says Stewart, who’s a transgender lady 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 know what I imply?”
Stewart finally scored the voiceover job in Win or Lose, which revolves round a co-ed softball crew at a center faculty named the Pickles within the week main as much as their large championship recreation. Stewart couldn’t wait to share the information together 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 lady made me actually blissful. I wished to make this for transgender children like me.”
So when Disney known as Monday night time to inform her mother, Keisha, that Win or Lose would not embody a transgender storyline, each she and Chanel had been heartsick. (Disney launched an announcement that mentioned “in relation to animated content material for a youthful viewers, we acknowledge that many dad and mom would like to debate sure topics with their youngsters 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 cover that truth,” Stewart’s mother Keisha tells Deadline. “There could also be some dad and mom on the market who aren’t able to have that dialog, however that is the world that we stay in and everybody must be represented. Everyone deserves to be acknowledged. And it felt prefer it was simply one other setback for the LGBTQ group, as a result of it’s very exhausting on transgender youngsters … transgender individuals, interval. Especially once you’re younger and also you’re making an attempt to determine the right way to navigate this world that you simply stay in and have the ability to develop into your individual particular person.”
“I used to be very disheartened,” provides Stewart. “From the second I acquired the script, I used to be excited to share my journey to assist empower different trans youth. I knew this may be an important dialog. Trans tales matter, they usually need to be heard.”
By reducing the transgender storyline, Disney eradicated “a couple 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 instructed by Disney that she’s “nonetheless part of the present closely.”
“It’s simply that my character would now be a cis lady, a straight cis lady,” says Chanel Stewart, who’s repped by KEY Talent Management and Innovative Artists. “So yeah, that’s all they actually instructed me and that I used to be nonetheless part of the present.”
But there’s one factor that Disney can’t take away from Stewart. “I’m undoubtedly 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.
