Trailblazing 'Billions' actor Asia Kate Dillon talks groundbreaking role, gender identity: 'I just want to pick me'
Asia Kate Dillon plays barrier-breaking non-binary character, Taylor Mason, on Showtime’s "Billions" -- the first major non-binary character to hit American television.
Dillon talked with ABC News about how important this role is in helping others understand what non-binary gender identity is.
It also helped them realize their own gender identity.
The 34-year-old actor told ABC News reading the show’s script helped them realize it was OK to be who they were and not change anything.
“In that moment it crystallized for me, that it was going to be ok for me to never change my body if that was my journey and I was still valid as a non-binary person and a trans person.”
In a recent interview on “Popcorn with Peter Travers,” Dillon said, “Accurate representation is the difference between life and death.”
They praised "Billions" writers for their outreach, “If you are attempting to tell a story about a life experience that’s not your own, and you are not seeking out those who do not have that life experience then you are only guessing at a life experience.”
Dillon did draw a distinction between their non-binary gender identity and Taylor’s.
“Taylor and I are each one example of what a non-binary gender identity can look like, and there’s not one. Taylor is a character I play and our gender identities is one of the similarities we have, and we probably have more differences than similarities even given that one similarity.”
Dillon has also starred on Netflix’s ‘Orange is the New Black.’
Watch the full interview with Travers and Dillon in the video above.
