{"id":10158,"date":"2017-02-12T15:36:58","date_gmt":"2017-02-12T20:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/?p=10158"},"modified":"2017-02-15T10:14:54","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T15:14:54","slug":"hustler-at-heart-from-sex-worker-to-silver-screen-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/hustler-at-heart-from-sex-worker-to-silver-screen-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Hustler at Heart: From Sex Worker to Silver Screen Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

For all her genial charm and cheeky disposition, acting newcomer Mya Taylor<\/a> has seen her fair share of personal hardship. A former sex worker, Taylor\u2019s acting debut in the film Tangerine<\/em><\/a> came courtesy of a chance encounter with director and indie-darling Sean Baker (Prince of Broadway<\/em>, Starlet<\/em>); who spotted Taylor while researching the red-light districts of Los Angeles, and saw in her an untapped talent primed for the big screen. In a striking example of art imitating life, Taylor found herself drawing from her past experiences to play the role of Alexandra, a transgender sex worker and talented singer whose raucous Christmas-Day escapades with best friend Sin-Dee (Kitana \u201cKiki\u201d Rodriguez) form the narrative backbone of this very funny, raunchy, occasionally serious and often tender buddy-comedy; one that refuses to wallow in judgment, condescension, saccharine sentimentality or pity.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re first introduced to Alexandra and Sin-Dee as they catch up over donuts at Donut Time; the famous dingy L.A. joint and favorite local hangout on the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Highland Avenue that serves as the film\u2019s aesthetic, geographic, narrative, and thematic fulcrum. Fresh off a brief jail stint for solicitation, Sin-Dee learns that her pimp\/boyfriend Chester (the always wonderful James Ransone) has been cheating on her while she was away\u2014a betrayal that stings all the more since it was with a cis female\u2014and with a sense of frenzied determination, she enlists Alexandra\u2019s help in tracking down the cheating Chester. Opening on a zoomed-in shot of the grubby mustard-yellow surface of a Donut Time booth, Baker presents this seedy establishment as an important and integral fixture throughout the film\u2014one that helps establish its sun-kissed setting, gritty visual texture and street-smart sensibility\u2014and in a nice bit of full-circle storytelling, it is here where Tangerine’s<\/em> action begins, and where much of it comes to a chaotic head as more characters converge in a dizzying and thrilling climactic scene.<\/p>\n

Eschewing the trappings of fetishized exploitation or overt social commentary, Tangerine<\/em> refuses to moralize, politicize or fixate on its central heroines\u2019 predicaments or professions\u2014and the few times it does address the circumstances or gender identity of its protagonists, it does so with striking realism: through a subtle dose of self-deprecating humor injected with casual, matter-of-fact restraint. Filmed on location and shot entirely on an iPhone 5s, Tangerine\u2019s micro-budget lends the film a coarse verisimilitude not unlike that of a documentary\u2014and with a photographic tapestry bathed in a gauzy haze of saturated golden hues, Tangerine’s<\/em> Santa Monica atmosphere is so prominently felt, that in many ways the film treats it not only as a city, but a character in its own right.<\/p>\n

While Taylor is making the most out of her short time in the spotlight, the Texas native never loses sight of where she came from\u2014and rather than treat her difficult past as a shameful and distant memory, she owns it with a candid sense of personal triumph.\u00a0 Carrying herself with the assertive poise of a career veteran who\u2019s long been through the showbiz ropes, Taylor\u2019s comportment disguises the fact that the Tangerine<\/em>\u00a0star is an industry neophyte who still finds herself cherishing the momentum of her whirlwind success. With an exuberance that spills from the screen and shines in person, the actress\u2019s charismatic presence make it easy to forget that beyond the pampered glamour and casually confident effervescence lies a hustler at heart who refuses to take any good fortune for granted, and whose newfound stardom isn\u2019t lost on her.<\/p>\n

Following the film\u2019s enthusiastic reception at its Sundance premiere, I had the chance to sit down with Taylor\u2014and with our discussion spanning everything from her upbringing to the recent controversy over trans bathroom use; the actress opened up about what it was like to film on the very street corners she used to work, her transition from sex worker to playing one on the big screen, the need for greater trans visibility, and her meteoric rise from obscurity to magazine cover girl.<\/p>\n

Check out the trailer and full interview below:<\/em>
\n