Talisa Garcia has been cast in Disney+’s Willow series, making history as the first openly trans woman to be cast in a Lucasfilm production.
Garcia (Baptiste) will play a queen who is the mother of Tony Revolori’s (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Servant) character. The role is small, Deadline reports, but her casting is monumental for trans representation in television. And it is reportedly the first known time a trans actor has played a cisgender character in a Disney+ production. Garcia’s casting is especially noteworthy given that Disney and its CEO, Bob Chapek, have been under fire for the company’s actions surrounding Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Willow is a sequel series of the 1988 film of the same name which starred Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, and Joanne Whalley. The story was created by George Lucas, Bob Dolman wrote the screenplay, and Ron Howard directed the film. In it, a young farmer took a perilous journey to keep a special baby out of the hands of an evil queen.
Rounding out the Willow cast are Erin Kellyman (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Ellie Bamber (Les Misérables, The Serpent), Dempsey Bryk (Heartland, Black Mirror) Ruby Cruz (Mare of Easttown, Castle Rock), and Amar Chadha-Patel (The Wheel of Time, The Third Day). The series will debut on Disney+ later this year.
Chu will also executive produce the series. Jonathan Kasdan (Solo) and Wendy Mericle (Arrow) serve as showrunners. Howard will executive produce with Dolman serving as a consulting producer. Kathleen Kennedy also executive produces, along with Roopesh Parekh and Hannah Friedman as co-executive producers. Julia Cooperman serves as producer.
Willow, Series Premiere, TBA, Disney+