Interview: Bethany Black teases episode 4 of 'Banana'

As the antics of Henry, Freddie and co. continue in Cucumber, the self-contained shorts of sister show Banana have arguably offered some of project’s most touching highlights so far. That looks set to continue in tonight’s episode, which follows Mancunian trans woman Helen as she deals with an ex who just won’t take no for an answer.

We caught up with the actress who plays her, stand-up comic Bethany Black, who she teased what the episode has store for us. Described as Britain’s only “goth, lesbian, transsexual comedian”, her episode of Banana is ground-breaking in more ways than one, marking the first time that a trans actress will play a trans character in an ongoing British TV series. Here, Bethany tells us why the script was unlike any she’d read before, and why it’s so important that trans people are offered trans roles…

So what can you tell us about your episode of Banana?
Well I’m in episode 4 of Cucumber, where I have like two lines in one scene, and then I have an entire episode of Banana that’s all about me, my life and my stalker-y ex! It’s a really great episode. There’s a lot of stuff to do with social media and how that feeds into the way people date these days, and the things that people are able to do. In my story there’s a lot of stuff involving Facebook – and I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you, that’s the problem – but my character has an ex who’s really stalking her and things get out of hand, and that feeds into things like social media and public embarrassment. I’m not sure how much else I can say!

Your episode isn’t written by Russell T Davies and obviously revolves around a trans woman. Is there much difference tonally to what we’ve already seen?
There is. Cucumber’s written entirely by Russell and Russell’s written a couple of episodes [of Banana] but the rest are written by people who are doing their first TV series or young LGBT writers. Charlie Covell’s done episode 4, which is the one I’m in. So tonally it’s different – a lot of the stuff in Cucumber and Banana has a lot of comedy drama, but the episode I’m in is a lot darker and seems to be more serious, which is interesting because by trade I’m a stand-up comic! So it’s interesting to play against type.

Obviously a trans woman playing a trans role is still a rarity. How did you come to land it?
I’d not done any acting before and they were trying to cast the role of Helen – who’s a trans woman from Manchester – and they were having great difficulty trying to do that. I think about two weeks before shooting apparently they were going to re-write the part, but an open casting was put out. So I emailed them on the Tuesday, got the audition on the Thursday, and by the next Friday we were doing the read-through! So it was one of those things!

It’s also great because this is the first ongoing series in the UK where they’ve cast a trans person to play a trans role, which is a big step forward and also really vital for being able to get the plot and the little things right. For example, on my first day on the set that’s supposed to be my flat, we were doing a scene in the bathroom and I ended up having to point out that whoever had dressed the set didn’t realise that [as a trans woman] I wouldn’t have quite so many boxes of tampons in my bathroom! You know, little things like that, they may have been missed otherwise. But it’s a great role and it’s been so much fun to do.

One of the things that I like about my character’s story, is that a lot of the stuff that happens to her is a lot of the stuff that’s happened to me. I can relate to a lot of it, even though my character’s a little bit straighter than I am, which was great fun to try and have to do! My girlfriend thought it was hilarious on the first day, when I got home saying ‘I’ve spent all day kissing a man!’ She was like ‘That is brilliant’, but it was horrible! I didn’t like it at all! But Helen’s an interesting character to play, because there’s so much to get your teeth into, and she doesn’t fall into any of those stereotypes that’ve been done before, about trans characters on television and trans women in particular.

One thing that’s Russell’s famed for is not having characters who agonise over their sexuality; who really own it. Is that the case with Helen’s gender identity?
Yep, she’s not agonising about being trans at all. The fact that she’s trans informs her character and her world view, but it’s not the key structural point of the show. It’s not a plot device; it’s a character trait, which is really important to do. It’s one of the things when I read the role that I was totally blown away by.

I’ve worked on the script-writing side of things in the past, and often when people are writing a trans character they’ll send me a copy, and every single one that I see seems to want a scene where they accidentally walk into the men’s toilet! And you go, ‘That has never happened in any situation ever,’ because as you can imagine that’s probably the most stressful part of your day, because there’s a chance that someone’s going to say something to you. You will be thinking that through; that’s not an auto-response – so get it out the script! And they say, ‘Oh yeah but it’s funny’. No it isn’t. It hasn’t been for years. But when I read this script I thought, ‘wow’. This is the first time I’ve read one where they’ve actually got it right, because it’s just about her trying to get on with her life and do the right thing in spite of everything that happens.

Do you feel like trans issues are finally catching up with gay ones?
I think we are. It’s only really been in the last couple of years, since the advent of Twitter really, that trans activism and trans rights have made that big leap forward. As LGB rights have moved on trans rights have sort have been the embarrassing little secret, like, ‘We just want to show people we’re normal and you’re weird, stop it!’ So as a result of that, coming out as trans publicly is still something where you’re likely to be disowned by people and harassed in the street; where you’re likely to get people being awful to you on a daily basis. It’s still one of those things where people seem to think it’s okay to have a go at.

I’ve always said that being trans in this day and age is like being gay in the early 70s. We’ve just reached this point where trans people are starting to be heard and get together to say ‘This is not on.’ We’re starting to have an open presence and say ‘It’s not okay to not tell our stories, and also to tell them by people who don’t understand.’ You see with this [episode] that it’s not been written for a guy in a dress or a woman pretending to be trans. Laverne Cox in the US has been all over the press which is a great thing: she wasn’t the first trans woman to play a trans woman, but she’s been the most successful, and it’s really starting to come into the mainstream. That always leads to a backlash, but we are moving forward.

Do you think it’s important that trans actors do play trans roles?
Absolutely. I mean, it’s one of those things where until you see it you don’t understand why it would make it better, because I know when Jared Leto got the Oscar [for his role in Dallas Buyers Club] people were saying ‘Oh that’s amazing’, but there are so many experiences that he would never be able to get his head around. My partner was very much like that. We had a massive argument about whether it was alright for cis-gendered people to play transgender parts and then we watched Dallas Buyers Club together and she went ‘No you’re right, he got that totally wrong.’ And that’s why it’s been a total honour for me to do this. But also the fact they were only looking for trans women to do this. It’s one of the reason it took so long to cast it. One of the great things about working with Russell is that not only is he great at what he does but he’s open to taking on new ideas.

We’re told a lot of Banana characters were written into more episodes of Cucumber at a later stage. Will we be seeing more of Helen in the coming weeks?
Yes. I was originally cast in Banana and then I think it was the second week I was doing it the producer came over and said ‘Russell’s asked me to ask you if it’s alright if he wrote you into Cucumber a bit more.’ I was like, ‘Um, yeah!’ So now she’s got a much bigger role, which is great! And I don’t know where my character’s going either! The last bit of the series; I don’t know anyone who knows what’s going to happen!

And going forward, do you want to keep addressing trans issues through your writing and acting?
Yeah I’d love to. My first Edinburgh show was all about my transition, it was called Beth Becomes Her, and it was all about how it affected my life and family and all the rest of it. I’ve got a couple of ideas that I’m working on that I’d like to do, but I would like to act in more things, and now people are starting to take trans roles and trans actor seriously, I hope that’s the case!

Cucumber continues tonight (February 12) on Channel 4 at 9pm, followed by Banana on E4 at 10pm.

Interview: Bethany Black teases episode 4 of ‘Banana’

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