Scott Turner Schofield

Scott Turner Schofield is an American actor, writer, producer, and speaker. He is a transgender activist, and uses he/him and they/them pronouns. He was the first out transgender actor in Daytime television,[1] and the first out trans man to earn an Emmy nomination for acting.[2]

Schofield in May 2015

Schofield has performed in film, TV, theatre, and streaming productions. In addition to performing, he has produced, written, directed, and consulted on several projects in film, TV, streaming content, and theatre.

A collection of Schofield's three solo performance scripts was published by Homofactus Press titled Two Truths and a Lie. Jack Halberstam wrote the foreword. The book was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards in the Drama and Transgender categories; it was placed on the American Library Association's 2009 Rainbow List.

Schofield's work as an activist[3] and public speaker has focused on education in regard to transgender issues and awareness.[4] He has assisted in the creation of training programs,[5] institutional support programs, and nondiscrimination policies in educational, government, and corporate settings.[6]

Filmography

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Scott Turner Schofield has appeared in films ranging from art house shorts to major feature length releases; including the Antonia Brico biopic The Conductor, directed by Maria Peters, and Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps which is based on his award-winning live performance art piece of the same name.

Film credits include:

  • Off Ramp - Silas, Directed by Nathan Tape
  • Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps - Self, Created by Scott Turner Schofield
  • The Conductor (De Dirigent)- Robin, Directed by Maria Peters[7]
  • The Gaybysitters Club - Logan, Directed by Savannah Dooley
  • Transmute - Chris, Directed by Star Victoria

Television

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In May 2015, Schofield became the first out transgender actor on daytime television, as the recurring character Nick on the CBS's The Bold And The Beautiful.[8]

Acting credits include:

Digital

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Schofield is involved in diverse offerings on series streaming platforms.[9]

Live Host

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  • Speaking of Transgender, Interview Series on SpareMin.
  • Equality CA Awards Dinners, Host, Palm Springs, San Francisco.
  • On The Rocks, Recurring Co-Host, UBN.
  • Trans*Mission+, Emcee, Gender Odyssey.
  • Fresh Meat, Emcee, Theater Artaud, San Francisco, CA.

Industrials

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  • Everybody Changes, Principal, Transgender inclusion training video.

Producer

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  • THEY / THEM, Executive Producer, written and directed by John Logan. (Blumhouse Productions / Peacock )
  • Anything’s Possible, Impact Producer, written by Ximena García Lecuona, directed by Billy Porter. (Amazon Originals)
  • Off Ramp, Co-Producer, written by Tim Cairo, directed by Nathan Tape.
  • Not Dating, Producer, (Web Series), created by, and starring, Puppett and Lise Johnson.
  • Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps, Producer, creator, writer, actor.
  • Everybody Changes - Everybody Changes, Best practices for transgender inclusion in recreational settings. (Video E-Course). Executive Producer. Creator and Writer.[11]

Consultant

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Theatre

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Schofield has worked in theatre as a performer, writer, director, and artistic director.

He is best known for a trilogy of critically acclaimed autobiographical works, which focus on the life experience of being Queer, transitioning, and life beyond transition. Underground Transit; A spoken word performance taking on academic Queer Theory in the real life of one transition. Debutante Balls;[15] A performance piece on coming out into Southern Society as a lesbian, radical feminist, and finally, as a transgender man. The award-winning Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps which includes short stories, songs, and short films that center an epic trans life—before, during, and 20 years beyond transition. Excerpts of each of these were performed as part of the nationally touring variety show, the 'Tranny Roadshow.'[16]

Schofield was honored by the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, where he received the Gant Gaither Award, a theater fellowship in acting.[17] Schofield carried out his fellowship at 7 Stages in Atlanta, where he worked as the assistant to French director Eric Vigner on Bernard Marie Koltes' play In the Solitude of Cotton Fields; with German actress Anne Tismer on Gutes Tun/Doing Good Things; and with American actress/director Crystal Dickinson on Pearl Cleage's play A Song for Coretta. Schofield also became the first out transgender creator to receive a National Performance Network Creation Fund to produce Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps. The commission was supported by The Pat Graney Company in Seattle, DiverseWorks in Houston, and 7 Stages in Atlanta.

Schofield became the artistic director of Out North Contemporary Art House in Anchorage Alaska. He curated 3 seasons of performance, film, music, and visual arts. Schofield accepted an ACLU Award as a Hero for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Out North's founders, volunteers, and artists, who persisted through nine separate censorship attacks over 25 years. During his tenure as artistic director he conceived of the Art House Residency Program. The program was subsequently funded for $250,000 by ArtPlace America.

Schofield moved to France to work again with Éric Vigner on a play by Christophe Honoré titled La Faculté. He worked with the Academy of the Théâtre de Lorient and actress Jutta Johanna Weiss on the world premiere at the 2012 Festival d'Avignon. The play was also performed at the National Theatres of France, touring France in the 2012–13 season to Lorient, Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand, Reims, and Orleans.

Festival Performances

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  • Morphologies, Queer Performance Festival, Minneapolis, MN, USA
  • Festival d’Avignon, Mainstage, Avignon, France
  • Festival des Libertés, Headliner, Brussels, Belgium
  • Fresh Fruit Festival, New York City, NY, USA
  • "National Performance Network", Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, USA
  • Single File Festival, Chicago, IL, USA
  • SEEN+HEARD Festival, Atlanta, GA, USA
  • FUSE: the NYC Celebration of Queer Culture, New York City, NY, USA
  • Alternate R.O.O.T.S, Annual Meeting, Winder, Georgia, USA
  • SEEN+HEARD Festival, Atlanta, GA, USA
  • Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Adjudicated, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Theatre Performances

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  • A Kind of Weather, (Kid), by Sylvan Oswald. directed by Eric Hoff . Kirk Douglas Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • I Am My Own Wife, (Alfred Kirshner/Nazis/Stasi), by Doug Wright, directed by Danny Gordon, producer Jacob Tobias, Renberg Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • La Faculté, (Stéphane), by Christophe Honoré, directed by Eric Vigner, National Theater of France, Festival d’Avignon, Avignon, France
  • Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps, (One Man Show), writer, director. Producers: The Pat Graney Company, DiverseWorks, 7 Stages, National Performance Network. Premiered at the Capitol Hill Arts Center Seattle, Washington. Over 20 international productions.
  • Words Can't Describe Series, A collaboration with S. Bear Bergman. Drag kings, and community workshops. Atlanta, GA, USA; San Antonio, TX, USA; Seattle, WA, USA.
  • Wizzer Pizzer, (Kandi/ Jack), by Amy Wheeler, directed by Melissa Foulger, 7 Stages, Atlanta, GA, USA
  • Debutante Balls, (One Man Show), writer, directed by Steve Bailey. Has toured with over 50 productions in the United States. Premiere: 2004 Chicago Single File Festival, Chicago, IL, USA.
  • The Southern Gents Tour, in collaboration with the Athens Boys Choir, US tour.
  • Underground TRANSit, (One Man Show), international tour with over 50 productions. Premiered Charis Books & More, Atlanta, GA, USA

Playwriting

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  • Two Ways To Surrender. One-act play. Production: Staged reading, Emory Brave New Works Festival, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • Transmission. Full-length play, (French). A young queer artist struggles with the ghosts of would-be mentors: Jack Smith, Ethyl Eichelberger, and other artists lost to the AIDS epidemic (1980–95) in New York. Production: Centre Dramatique de Bretagne, Rennes, FR. Supported by a Princess Grace Foundation Special Projects Grant.
  • You Can Sleep While I Drive. 10 minute play. 1950s heterosexuality meets modern queer culture in one short drive down Sunset Blvd. Production: Staged reading, Emory Brave New Works Festival, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • Becoming A Man In 127 Easy Steps. One man show. Producers: Pat Graney Company, DiverseWorks, 7 Stages, National Performance Network. Premiered at the Capitol Hill Arts Center Seattle, Washington. Over 20 international productions.
  • Turn Me On. Full-length play. A bisexual woman in a midlife crisis meets a transgender twenty-something, and together the two find the oddest of intimacies. Production: Staged reading, featuring Sheri Mann Stewart, Emory Brave New Works Festival, Atlanta, GA, USA..

Directing

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  • Transmission. Full-length play, (French). Production: Centre Dramatique de Bretagne, Rennes, FR. Supported by a Princess Grace Foundation Special Projects Grant.
  • 30 Below. (One person show), Festival of Alaskan Artists. Production: Out North Contemporary Art House, Anchorage, AK, USA

Activism

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Scott Turner Schofield has worked with over 100 major universities and corporations, educating on transgender cultural competency and workplace diversity and inclusion.

Schofield's work includes the popular TED Talk “Ending Gender” (TEDx Houston, 2013)[18] and the eCourse Everybody Changes, which teaches inclusivity for trans and gender non-conforming individuals using locker rooms.

Schofield collaborated with Joey Soloway, in partnership with 5050by2020 (a project of the Time's Up Movement) to lead their Trans Masculine Cohort.[19] The group brings trans masculine professionals in Hollywood for educational and collaborative opportunities.

In 2018, when Scarlett Johansson experienced backlash for attempting to play a transgender character,[20] Schofield acted in a viral video[21] featuring trans men auditioning for roles Johansson had played[22] starring D’Lo, Justin Chow, and Rocco Kayiotis. He participated in industry round tables and was highlighted in the Associated Press[23] and The Hollywood Reporter’s[24] coverage of trans entertainment professionals responding to the issue.

Thought Leadership

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Schofield's work is centered on gender expansion in culture, as a speaker and writer engaging social change on transgender issues.

Bibliography

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Schofield, Scott Turner. "1 Trans Actor on Representation in This Year’s Oscar Race", Backstage.Com. Backstage, November 7, 2019. https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/trans-actor-representation-years-oscar-race-1873/.

Schofield, Scott Turner. “Are We There Yet? On Being and Becoming a Transgender Performance Artist.” In Self Organizing Men, edited by Jay Sennet. Ypsilanti, Michigan: Homofactus Press, 2006.

Schofield, Scott Turner.“Becoming a Man...” - FourTwoNine Magazine, April issue, 2017

Schofield, Scott Turner. “Coming of Age—Still. Performance / Manifesto.”. Women & Performance: a Journal of Feminist Theory, New York University, no. 28. (2004).

TED Talk “Ending Gender” (TEDx Houston, 2013) Scott Turner Schofield “Ending Gender”, Nov 4, 2013, Houston, TX, USA, video, 16:25, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWubtUnSfA0

Advocate Video Team. "The Advocate: Ask a Trans Man With Scott Turner Schofield" September 12, 2017. Video, 5 min 26 sec. https://www.advocate.com/video/2017/9/12/ask-trans-man-scott-turner-schofield

Schofield, Scott Turner. “The Wrong Body.” In Gender Outlaw: The Next Generation, edited by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman, Berkeley, California: Seal Press, 2010.

Schofield, Scott Turner. “Underground Transit”. Excerpt in [Becoming] Young Ideas on Gender, Identity and Sexuality, edited by- Diane Anderson-Minshall and Gina Devries, Chicago, Illinois:ExLIbris Group, Clarivate, 2004.

Schofield, Scott Turner. “Underground Transit”. In National Transgender Theater Festival Reader, New York: Renegade, 2003.

Awards and Distinctions

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References

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  1. ^ Ebershoff, David. (February 4, 2020). "The Trans Actors Challenging Outmoded Ideas of Masculinity". The New York Times, T Magazine. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  2. ^ Sheeler, Jason (June 17, 2020). "Transgendered Actor Scott Turner Schofield On J.K. Rowling And Feeling 'Invisible' In Hollywood". People Magazine. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  3. ^ Advocate Video Team. "The Advocate: Ask a Trans Man With Scott Turner Schofield" September 12, 2017. Video, 5 min 26 sec. https://www.advocate.com/video/2017/9/12/ask-trans-man-scott-turner-schofield
  4. ^ Koblin, John (April 13, 2022). "Helping Hollywood Avoid Claims Of Bias Is Now A Growing Business". The New York Times (published April 2, 2022). Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  5. ^ Villarreal, Daniel (May 23, 2019). "How Locker Rooms Across America Could Become Trans-Inclusive in 30 Minutes". Out Sports SBNation. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  6. ^ Fox, Mei Mei (March 11, 2019). "Why You Should Consider Transgender Awareness Training In Your Workplace". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  7. ^ "NewNowNext: Finally, a Film With a Trans Man Lead Hits the U.S. (and Defies Trauma Clichés)".
  8. ^ Miller, Michael (April 28, 2015). "People Magazine: Transgender Actor Scott Turner Schofield Cast on The Bold and the Beautiful". people.com.
  9. ^ "Digital Review: Scott Turner Schofield is Emmy Worthy in STUDIO CITY". 16 February 2020.
  10. ^ "NewNowNext: Can This Streaming Soap Opera Kick Off a New Wave of Trans Storytelling?".
  11. ^ "OutSports: How Locker Rooms Across America Could Become Trans-Inclusive in 30 Minutes". 23 May 2019.
  12. ^ Haasch, Palmer. (10 August 2019). "Euphoria's Trans Consultant On Why the Series Tells Authentic Trans Stories". Polygon. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  13. ^ Welk, Brian (October 27, 2020). "The Craft: Legacy' Made an Inclusive Space for Trans Star Zoey Luna". July 7, 2022.
  14. ^ "The Black List And GLAAD Unveil Second Annual GLAAD List". 26 January 2020. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020.
  15. ^ "Time Out New York: Editor's Pick, Fancy That". Archived from the original on 2015-01-31.
  16. ^ Nicholls, Joanna (2006-04-11). "Tranny Roadshow uses humor to educate". The Angels. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  17. ^ "Award Winners".
  18. ^ "Scott Turner Schofield at TEDxHouston 2013 - Ending Gender". YouTube. 29 October 2013.
  19. ^ Ebershoff, David (4 February 2020). "T Magazine (New York Times): The Trans Actors Challenging Outmoded Ideas of Masculinity". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Garcia, Sandra E. (5 July 2018). "Scarlett Johansson's Casting as Transgender Man Draws a Backlash". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Kilkenny, Katie (July 10, 2018). "Trans Men Audition For Old Scarlett Johansson Roles In Parody Video". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  22. ^ "Trans actors post video mocking Scarlett Johansson in Rub and Tug". TheGuardian.com. 11 July 2018.
  23. ^ "AP: Transgender Hollywood seeks recognition, and not just roles". Scott Turner Schofield.
  24. ^ "21 Transgender Stars on Hollywood, Scarlett Johansson". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 July 2018.
  25. ^ "Trans Summit".
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