Emma Corrin opened up about the “vitriol” regarding their identity and expression.
In April 2021, The Crown star came out publicly as queer.
Later, in July 2021, they changed their pronouns on Instagram to they/them, and unfortunately, the public response has still been worse than they expected.
“The vitriol is worse than I anticipated,” Emma said in a May 22 Harper’s Bazaar interview. “Even though we like to think we’re in a progressive society, a lot of what we’re seeing is increasingly a step back.”‘
“People follow me because they’ve watched something I’m in. They think I’m one kind of person, and then they’ll see who I actually am and how I present, and — I will never understand why. Who are you hurting by being yourself? Why am I controversial?”
“I think it’s fear. Absolute fear.”
Because of this, Emma avoids social media comments at all costs. “I’m getting really good at not doing it. I’d be lying if I said I never read anything. Because sometimes you read one and think, ‘I’m never going to act again. I can’t do anything.’ You learn your lesson.”
Emma’s known roles include Darby Hart in A Murder at the End of the World, Connie Reid in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Marion in My Policeman, and their breakout portrayal of Princess Diana in The Crown.
Aside from the trolls and hateful comments, there are gratifying moments from Emma’s visibility as a nonbinary and queer actor.
Emma shared how one fan had a heartwarming response to their portrayal of Orlando in a stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s gender-bending novel of the same name. “I remember this older man was waiting for me. His grandchild had come out as trans, and he was trying to understand it. Seeing Orlando shifted his whole perspective; he couldn’t thank me enough. It was wild. It was beautiful.”
Celebrities like Emma, Sam Smith, Jonathan Van Ness, and Janelle Monáe may increase the visibility of nonbinary people in popular media, but full acceptance won’t happen overnight.
When asked if change might be coming to the film industry, Emma said, “It feels impossible to know where to start to enact the change that needs to be done,” they said. “But by taking up space, by being visible, that’s something in itself,” they said. “I’m a tiny cog at the moment.”