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Asia Kate Dillon

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Asia Kate Dillon
Asia Kate Dillon discusses their role on Billions in 2017
Born (1984-11-15) November 15, 1984 (age 39)
Ithaca, New York, United States
NationalityAmerican
Other namesAsia Dillon
Occupation(s)Actor, producer, director
Years active2007–present
Known forOrange is the New Black, Billions

Asia Kate Dillon (born November 15, 1984)[1] is an American actor who plays Brandy Epps in Orange Is the New Black and Taylor Mason in Billions. Dillon identifies as non-binary and uses singular they pronouns. Their role on Billions is the first gender non-binary main character on North American television, and earned them a Critics' Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.[2][3][4][5]

Career

Dillon graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.[6] They 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.[6]

In 2007 Dillon took the titular role of Rachel Corrie in My Name is Rachel Corrie. This role required Dillon to memorize over thirty monologues and play over seven alternate characters over the course of the one person show.[7][non-primary source needed] Afterward, they took part in a workshop of plays whose writers are Academy Award and Tony (nominated and winning) playwrights.[8][6] This was followed by a featured lead role as Lucifer in The Mysteries, and a role in The Tempest at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC.[7][non-primary source needed]

Dillon played white supremacist Brandy Epps, a penitentiary inmate, in eight episodes of Orange is the New Black in 2016, making them one of the first non-binary gender-identifying actors to be cast in a major television show.[6][9] They also played a recurring role in season 2 of Showtime's Wall Street drama Billions in 2017.[10] The role they played is a non-binary character, Taylor Mason, a hedge fund intern,[11] who reports state is the first non-binary character on mainstream North American television.[12][13][14][4] Showtime confirmed in April 2017 that Mason would be a regular character in season 3.[15] When submitting their name for an Emmy Award for acting Dillon was allowed to submit for whichever gendered category they wished, and chose "actor" over "actress" because it is a gender neutral word.[16][17] They received submission for supporting actor.[18] Their effort to clarify the matter for all non-binary people prompted the MTV Movie & TV Awards to combine their gender-segregated categories.[19] They presented the award for Best Actor at the MTV Movie & TV Awards on May 7, 2017.[20]

Dillon is the founder and producing director of MIRROR/FIRE Productions. Within the company, they created US, a performance piece exploring racism and the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.[8]

Personal life

Dillon was born in Ithaca, New York and assigned female at birth.[21][22] Dillon identifies as non-binary and uses singular they pronouns.[12][23][24] Dillon explained around 2015, they began removing gendered pronouns from their biography, and auditioning for the part of Mason helped them understand their gender identity.[23][24] Dillon identifies as pansexual, stating they have been attracted to multiple genders.[25]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2017–present Billions Taylor Mason 12 episodes[6]
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Critics Choice Awards) - Nominated
2016–present Orange is the New Black Brandy Recurring; 8 episodes[6]
2016 We're All Gonna Die (short) Sex shop attendant [26]
2015 Master of None Line lady #1 Episode: "Plan B"[8]
2015 Opus for All Homeless woman / Lucifer [27]
2015 Younger Bald girl Episode: "IRL"[8]
2011 Marcus Garlard: A Necessary Option Asia [citation needed]
2011 Hitting the Wall Jocelynn [28]
2009 My Popcorn Nights (short) Asia [29]

References

  1. ^ "ASIA KATE DILLON". Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  2. ^ Hibberd, James (February 19, 2017). "'Billions' Premiere Introduces TV's First Gender Non-Binary Character". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Masters, Jeffrey (April 13, 2017). "Asia Kate Dillon Talks Discovering The Word Non-Binary: 'I Cried'". HuffPost. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Williams, Lauren C. (March 20, 2017). "Behind the scenes with TV's first gender non-binary character". ThinkProgress. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  5. ^ "Critics' Choice nominations vault 'The Shape of Water' into best picture race". EW.com. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f 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.
  7. ^ a b MIRROR/FIRE Productions
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ Birnbaum, Debra (April 6, 2017). "'Billions' Star Challenges Emmys Male-Female Acting Categories (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Garrido, Duarte (February 20, 2017). "Billions shows TV's first gender non-binary character". Sky News. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  14. ^ ellentube team (March 19, 2017). "Ellen Meets Trailblazing Actor Asia Kate Dillon". ellentube. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  15. ^ Patten, Dominic (April 9, 2017). "Showtime's 'Billions' Ups Asia Kate Dillon To Series Regular For Season 3". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  16. ^ Williams, Megan (April 6, 2017). "Billions star challenges Emmy Awards over gender-based categories". The Independent. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Flynn, Paul (April 15, 2017). "'You didn't win, we won': the great LGBT TV revolution". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  19. ^ Saunders, Emma (April 7, 2017). "Is it time to scrap gender specific awards?". BBC News. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  20. ^ Serrao, Nivea. "Billions' Asia Kate Dillon to present at the MTV Movie & TV Awards". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  21. ^ Ennis, Dawn (March 22, 2017). "'Billions' star Asia Kate Dillon schools Ellen on being non-binary". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  22. ^ Nordstrom, Leigh (May 16, 2017). "Asia Kate Dillon is making a mark as 'they'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  23. ^ a b Todd, Carolyn L. (February 27, 2017). "Meet Billions' Asia Kate Dillon, TV's First Non-Binary Star". Refinery29. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  24. ^ a b Jones, Ellen E (February 14, 2017). "Billions star Asia Kate Dillon: 'I cried when I read the script'". London Evening Standard. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  25. ^ "#11: You've Told Me This Before". Nancy, S1 Ep11. June 4, 2017.
  26. ^ Jamie Sisley. We're All Gonna Die (in production) (Short film). USA: Jamie Sisley.
  27. ^ Andy Zou, Ronnie Rios, Ramon O. Torres (directors) (June 7, 2015). Opus for All (Opus 4 - Our Better Angels) (Short). USA.
  28. ^ Jack Skyyler, Joel Brook (directors) (April 7, 2011). Hitting The Wall (Motion picture). USA: Dear Skyyler Productions. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  29. ^ Daniel Slottje (director, writer) (2009). My Popcorn Nights (Short film). USA: Daniel Slottje.
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