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Asia Kate Dillon

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Asia Kate Dillon
BornNovember 15[1]
Ithaca, New York, USA
NationalityAmerican
Other namesAsia Dillon
Occupation(s)Actor, producer
Known forOrange is the New Black, Billions

Asia Kate Dillon is an actor from Ithaca, New York, known for playing Brandy Epps in Orange Is the New Black and Taylor Mason in Billions. Dillon identifies as nonbinary, and their character role on Billions is considered to be the first gender nonbinary character on television.[2]

Career

Dillon graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.[3] Dillon enrolled in and completed the Meisner training program at The Actor’s Workshop of Ithaca, beginning during their junior year of high school at age sixteen. They were the youngest student ever admitted to the class.[3]

Shortly afterwards, Dillon was chosen to take part in a workshop of plays that were written by Academy Award and Tony (nominated and winning) playwrights.[4][3]

Dillon played white supremacist Brandy Epps, a penitentiary inmate, in eight episodes of Orange is the New Black in 2016.[3][5]

Soon afterwards, Dillon played a recurring nonbinary character, Taylor Mason, a hedge fund intern,[6] in season 2 of Showtime's Billions in 2017.[7] Taylor Mason is reported to be the first nonbinary character on mainstream North American television.[8][9][10][2] Showtime confirmed in April 2017 that Mason would be a regular character in season 3.[11] When submitting their name for an Emmy Award for acting they were allowed to submit their name for whichever gendered category they wished, and chose "actor" over "actress" because it's a gender neutral word.[12][13] Their public efforts to clarify the matter for themself and other nonbinary people prompted the MTV Movie & TV Awards to combine their gender-segregated categories.[14]

Dillon is the founder and producing director of MIRROR/FIRE Productions. With that company they have created the work US, a performance piece that explores racism and the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.[4]

Personal life

Dillon was born in Ithaca, New York.[3]

Dillon identifies as nonbinary and uses singular they pronouns.[8][15][16] Dillon said around 2015 they had started to remove gendered pronouns from their bios, and that auditioning for the part of Mason helped them to understand their own gender identity.[15][16]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2017-present Billions Taylor Mason Recurring[3]
2016 Orange is the New Black Brandy Recurring; 8 Episodes[3]
2016 We're All Gonna Die (short) Sex shop attendant
2015 Master of None Line lady #1 [4]
2015 Opus for All Lucifer
2015 Younger Bald girl [4]
2011 Marcus Garlard: A Necessary Option Asia
2011 Hitting the Wall Jocelynn
2009 My Popcorn Nights (short) Asia

Groundbreaking Roles

Taylor Mason

Taylor Mason is a character appeared on the 2016 television series Billions, and also the first non-binary character to ever appear on TV. This character is played by non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon. As an intern at axe captial, they were recognized by Bobby as a brilliant mind with huge financial potential.

This role was nomated for the 2017 Emmy Awards, and will be chanllenging its Male-Female Categories.

References

  1. ^ Dillon, Asia Kate (April 10, 2017). "Asia Kate Dillon's tweet: "My birthday is November 15 ;)" (archive)". Twitter. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Williams, Lauren C. (March 20, 2017). "Behind the scenes with TV's first gender non-binary character". ThinkProgress. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Steve (December 19, 2016). "Asia Kate Dillon makes history as one of the first non-binary gender identifying actors to be cast on mainstream TV". LGBT Weekly. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d Artavia, David (February 17, 2017). "Asia Kate Dillon Is Blazing a Trail for Gender-Nonconforming Actors". The Advocate. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  5. ^ Appugliesi, Jordan (March 20, 2017). "'Billions' Star Asia Kate Dillon On Being First Non-Binary Gender Identifying Actor On A Mainstream TV Show". ET Canada. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  6. ^ Birnbaum, Debra (April 6, 2017). "'Billions' Star Challenges Emmys Male-Female Acting Categories (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  7. ^ "Actor or actress? Billions star Asia Kate Dillon on how non-binary people fit into the Emmys". CBC Radio. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Dowling, Amber (February 24, 2017). "Meet TV's First Non-Binary-Gender Character: Asia Kate Dillon of Showtime's 'Billions'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  9. ^ Garrido, Duarte (February 20, 2017). "Billions shows TV's first gender non-binary character". Sky News. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  10. ^ ellentube team (March 19, 2017). "Ellen Meets Trailblazing Actor Asia Kate Dillon". ellentube. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  11. ^ Patten, Dominic (April 9, 2017). "Showtime's 'Billions' Ups Asia Kate Dillon To Series Regular For Season 3". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  12. ^ Williams, Megan (April 6, 2017). "Billions star challenges Emmy Awards over gender-based categories". The Independent. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  13. ^ Andrews, Travis M. (April 6, 2017). "Gender non-binary star Asia Kate Dillon ponders Emmys: Actor or actress?". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  14. ^ Saunders, Emma (April 7, 2017). "Is it time to scrap gender specific awards?". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Todd, Carolyn L. (February 27, 2017). "Meet Billions' Asia Kate Dillon, TV's First Non-Binary Star". Refinery29. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  16. ^ a b Jones, Ellen E (February 14, 2017). "Billions star Asia Kate Dillon: 'I cried when I read the script'". Evening Standard. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
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