The highly anticipated drama “About Ray” screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this weekend. The film follows Ray (Elle Fanning) who decides to transition from female to male, while his mother Maggie (Naomi Watts) tries to understand her son’s decision, as well as hunt down his father Craig (Tate Donovan) for legal parental consent.
On Saturday, Fanning and Watts discussed the film with People, sharing some insight into how Fanning prepared for the role. “I had a lot of transgender friends that go to my school, who made the transition over the summer, and they changed their names and used different pronouns…so I was used to that.”
“Reading this story and how current it seems, and it’s not just about a transgender teen. It’s also about a family and how everyone’s dealing with it,” continued Fanning. “I just love Ray and I love his story and really wanted to tell it because he deserves it.”
Watts explained how she spoke with various mothers of transgender kids: “Some of the lines from the film are actually taken from their stories,” which helps add even more authenticity to the film. “When you hear something that says so much and it just connects with truth, it’s so valuable,” she said.
We couldn’t agree more.
“About Ray” opens in theaters Sept. 18. [Source]
