The movie, “Coach Miracle,” is described as a “misfit-team inspired basketball comedy” on casting websites. But this week, background actors in the film discovered that it starred cisgender men pretending to be trans women to win an Olympic basketball game.
The Daily Wire production is now the subject of student protests at its filming location in downtown Nashville. Student organizers from Middle Tennessee State University plan to protest outside Nashville Municipal Auditorium for the duration of filming this week.
“Coach Miracle” is a non-union production, which means fewer protections for actors. While some film projects don’t offer many details to potential extras, talent agent Karyn Hough says a film this political should’ve advertised its message up front.
“With Tennessee being so laid back, the things that they can get away with is incredible,” Hough says.
A non-binary actor who left the set early tells WPLN News that they were offered $200 a day in cash to be an extra.
“That’s high. That’s really high,” Hough says. “An extra is (usually) getting $80 to, at best, $100, and you’re usually on set for 10 hours.”
That kind of high pay would’ve meant a lot for the trans and non-binary actors who answered the casting call, says Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project.
“It’s an extremely painful experience for them. You know, part of it was they needed the money, but they weren’t willing to compromise,” Sanders says. “It creates a situation in which there is no place to take a break from transphobia.”
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