“The actor plays Whiterose, a transgender leader of the Dark Army”

B.D. Wong, did, however, clarify something that he said in an earlier interview about the character represented as password whiterose:

“She’s interfacing in public as a man. It’s not comfortable for her...what he <Sam Esmail> is doing is forcing a discussion about gender politics through the use of this character, meaning that in this male-dominated world, a powerful woman almost has to figure out a way to get what she wants by presenting herself as a man and she herself recognizes that.”

As you may or may not know, I also recap a show on AMC called Halt and Catch Fire, and I was struck by how similar the characters of Donna on HACF and password whiterose have become in some ways. Many fans were wondering during the HACF premiere why Donna was using this dual-sided watch and it seemed incredibly simple to me (she is trying to keep a firm control on the amount of her time other people can have). Also, if you don’t watch Halt and Catch Fire, shame on you, it is one of the best shows on television.

B.D. Wong’s Interview with the Hollywood Reporter

Okay, so Mr. Wong did another interview, this one with the Hollywood Reporter which included a few more interesting revelations.

First, many people have complained about B.D. Wong playing a Trans woman and in the interview, he has his most detailed response to that criticism:

First of all, every trans character on television creates a dialogue about trans people, which is super valuable. We need to get people with the program about what trans people even fucking are. Those of us who embrace trans people, like me, forget that it doesn't come easily for people. Here is a character that, for all intents and purposes — there is a poetry of Sam's utilization of this character as trans — is rather symbolic. What I mean is that he really wants to discuss in a big way on the show the power dynamics associated with gender. There's a great challenge in being a powerful woman in a powerful white man's world. I think that it's part of his choice to make her a person who needs to be gender fluid to get what she wants. There's a lot of things we can discuss that are connected to it. There's also the casting of me in this part, which is not cool to trans people. Like Asians, trans actors don't get a lot of opportunities. There are arguably mitigating factors in this particular role because there is gender fluidity and she has to interface as a man and as a woman.

He also presented this little nugget:

I love everything about her, her conflict and what she's trying to do. She's willing to do a lot of things to achieve what she calls "a greater good." We don't know what that is yet, but the things she is willing to do are pretty dark. This isn't a typical villainess.