From Boys Don’t Cry to Transamerica, Dallas Buyer’s Club to The Danish Girl, Hollywood loves a trans narrative. After all, they’ve historically nabbed Oscar nominations, critical acclaim, and cultural purchase for forcing society to see gender and the struggles of a marginalized community in new light. Yet Hollywood’s love of trans stories highlights one blaring problem: its equal love of cisgender actors, whom the industry almost always casts to play transgender roles.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Scarlett Johansson would star as Dante “Tex” Gill in the upcoming film Rub & Tug. The film is based on the real-life story of Gill, a trans-masculine person; given Johansson is a cisgender woman, many criticized the choice as tone-deaf, given how much trans acting talent exists in Hollywood today. Trans actors are more than capable of portraying their own community. And beyond moral or ethical arguments against it, Johansson’s casting highlights the inherent injustice of casting a cis actor for a trans role: It denies trans actors access to opportunities in an industry where they already face systemic discrimination. Pursuing a trans storyline with cis actors diminishes the multi-faceted, impossibly complex narratives of trans folk, and says we’re incapable of telling our own stories.

Trans people live our lives everyday, and our lives are not costumes. They are real and worthy of celebration. Here are just 13 examples of incredible trans performers working today, should there be any doubt that talent is what's holding Hollywood back from giving trans actors the opportunities they deserve.

LAVERNE COX

Tibrina Hobson

If you don’t already know who Laverne Cox is, then this entire list is about to rock your world. From her pioneering role as Sophia on Orange is the New Black to her “Transgender Tipping Point” Time magazine cover, which sparked a global conversation and propelled trans visibility to new heights, Cox is a trailblazer. In 2014, she became the first trans woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy award; ever since her 2009 appearance on MTV’s I Want to Work for Diddy, for which she received a GLAAD Media Award, her career in entertainment and activism has catapulted her into the spotlight — and opened doors for many to follow.

ELLIOT FLETCHER