Trans Actors Who Won Awards for Roles Written as Cis

Awards bodies are (slowly) catching up to the reality that trans and non-binary performers often excel in roles where gender isn’t the plot, yet clear, verified examples are rarer than they should be. Below are documented wins where the performer identifies as trans or non-binary and the character was written as cis; each entry notes the award, the project, and what was recognized.

Elliot Page

In 2008, Elliot Page won Best Female Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards for playing pregnant teenager Juno MacGuff in ‘Juno’, a character written as a cis girl. The performance also brought major nominations across the season, including an Academy Award nod, but the Independent Spirit win is the confirmed trophy attached to the role. Page publicly came out as trans in 2020; the award predates that by more than a decade and was for a cis character.

Emma Corrin

Emma Corrin won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama and the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for playing Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’, a role explicitly written as a cis woman. Both wins came during the 2020–2021 awards cycle. Corrin later publicly identified as non-binary and has advocated for gender-neutral awards categories.

Bella Ramsey

Bella Ramsey, who is non-binary, won two Critics’ Choice Super Awards in 2024—Best Actress in a Horror Series and Best Actress in a Superhero Series—for portraying Ellie in ‘The Last of Us’, a character written as cis. Those trophies are listed among the series’ accolades and were confirmed by the awards body. Ramsey has continued to receive additional nominations for the same role in later seasons.

Alex Newell

Alex Newell became the first openly non-binary performer to win an acting Tony, taking Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for playing Lulu in ‘Shucked’—a role written as a cis woman. The win was widely reported and documented by theater outlets and mainstream press. Newell’s category placement reflected Broadway’s gendered rules despite their non-binary identity.

Cole Escola

Cole Escola won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for ‘Oh, Mary!’, portraying Mary Todd Lincoln—a historical, cis female character the production plays as cis. Multiple outlets reported the historic win, noting Escola as the first openly non-binary winner in that category. The production also won Best Direction of a Play the same night.

Amandla Stenberg

Amandla Stenberg, who identifies as non-binary and uses she/they pronouns, won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for ‘The Hate U Give’, playing Starr Carter—a role written as a cis teen. Their awards page and film entry list the Image Award win among several honors for the performance. Stenberg has publicly discussed their non-binary identity in multiple interviews.

Got more confirmed examples that fit these rules? Drop them in the comments so other readers can discover them too.