When I first meet Asia Kate Dillon, they’re wearing a Versace suit while submerged in a marble tub surrounded by lobsters. Dillon is at the tail end of their digital cover shoot for HYPEBEAST, having just spent the day running up and down a six-story West Village apartment wearing everything from Dior and Burberry to Supreme.
Understandably, Dillon and their team ask to reschedule the interview that was set to take place following the full day of shooting. When we finally speak the following week, it becomes clear that Dillon highly prioritizes doing things at the right time rather than rushing to get it all done. The rising actor is not interested in taking shortcuts in their career — even when that means turning down a role, a hefty paycheck, or the chance to give a snappy soundbite in lieu of a more considered answer.
“In this business, so often when we’re in the position of being ‘given’ a job, we forget that we have the authority to decide whether or not anyone is someone that we want to work with,” Dillon tells me. “It’s not easy to turn down work. But it’s your life, and if you’re not having fun with people you really respect, why do it?”
Is that a dangerous strategy for an actor? Perhaps, but Dillon has been clear about their artistic goals for nearly their entire life. They knew from their first play in kindergarten that they wanted to pursue acting as a career, Dillon tells me. They found a supportive environment during their childhood in Ithaca, New York, where they also acted in plays throughout middle and high school. “I feel very lucky that art in my household was held up as something that was essential. And being an artist was seen as just as important as say, being a doctor or a lawyer,” they say. “I learned very early to really appreciate it as something that one could — if they were lucky and worked really hard – make a living at.”
Dillon is not naive to the risks that come with being choosy about the projects they take on. Despite now starring in Showtimes’ critically-acclaimed Billions and the upcoming John Wick 3, they worked a restaurant job until only a few years ago to support their career. And though Dillon isn’t flippant about how taxing the service industry can be, they aren’t afraid of the idea of working a day job or being without money. That philosophy might make some Hollywood agents shrink, but fortunately Dillon has found a team that shares their outlook. “From the beginning, I told them that I didn’t come from money, and so I’m not going to compromise my morals or values for any dollar amount,” they say.
That would seem to fly in the face of an industry where even actors who are household names can be at the mercy of casting directors and high-powered studios. But Dillon isn’t particularly concerned with following the model of chasing success by any means necessary, or taking on any role just to get their name out there.
Fortunately they’ve found that most of the projects that come their way suit their tastes, but if a piece doesn’t resonate with them, Dillon feels no qualms about passing on it — no matter the amount of money attached. “And that has nothing to do necessarily with the quality of the work,” Dillon says. “It just means that it’s not the right project for me, and I try to listen really closely to those instincts when it comes to whether or not to take a project.” And when much of the traditional Hollywood system hasn’t been designed to accommodate Dillon as it is, why should they bend over backwards to fit the traditional narrative?
Dillon joined Orange Is the New Black in 2016, quickly earning praise for their performance in the role. Shortly after, Dillon was cast as Taylor Mason on Billions, whose fourth season premiered this month. Today, Dillon is one of the few openly non-binary actors on a major TV show. But when Showtime wanted to enter Dillon’s performance for Emmy consideration following Billions’ second season, the studio had to ask: “How would you like us to submit you? As an actor or an actress?”
Like their Billions character, Dillon is non-binary and uses the pronouns “they,” “them” and “their.” Dillon decided to do a bit of homework before proceeding with the Emmy submission, researching the origins of the words “actor” and “actress,” and writing a letter to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences asking for clarification on their categories.
“They wrote back and said, ‘Well, our rules have always stated that a performer can enter either category for any reason,’” Dillon recalls, leading them to be submitted in the Best Supporting Actor race. “It has always felt right to me, and upon doing the research before writing that letter it confirmed a feeling that I’d always had actually, which was ‘actor’ is a non-gendered, non-sex word that means ‘to perform,’ and can be applied to anyone,” they say.
second season, the studio had to ask: “How would you like us to submit you? As an actor or an actress?”
Like their Billions character, Dillon is non-binary and uses the pronouns “they,” “them” and “their.” Dillon decided to do a bit of homework before proceeding with the Emmy submission, researching the origins of the words “actor” and “actress,” and writing a letter to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences asking for clarification on their categories.
“They wrote back and said, ‘Well, our rules have always stated that a performer can enter either category for any reason,’” Dillon recalls, leading them to be submitted in the Best Supporting Actor race. “It has always felt right to me, and upon doing the research before writing that letter it confirmed a feeling that I’d always had actually, which was ‘actor’ is a non-gendered, non-sex word that means ‘to perform,’ and can be applied to anyone,” they say.
Dillon may have found a workaround in order to be recognized for their work, but the root of the problem is that Hollywood’s major award shows divide acting categories by sex to begin with. “I think that using visible and non-visible sex characteristics to separate people for judging and awarding art is really archaic,” Dillon says. And yes, including a category specifically for actresses ensures that at least some women will always be nominated, but it also evades the real issue. “The actress category is a bandaid for a problem that still has not been solved, which is this white cis, heteronormative standard in Hollywood,” Dillon says. And that band-aid ultimately needs to be ripped off in order to get to the heart of the matter.
Dillon is optimistic however that more award shows might follow MTV’s lead in eliminating gendered acting categories. They are acutely aware of their role in pushing for that change, and they embrace that work even if it means frequently explaining their identity and preferred pronouns on talk shows and interviews. It’s simply part of sharing their personal experience, Dillon believes. “We all relate to hearing people talk about their personal experiences, and maybe it’s enabled us to investigate and share our own,” they say.
And hopefully Dillon’s activism will push their cisgendered colleagues to be equally supportive of moving Hollywood away from the gender binary. Dillon is also a vocal advocate for Black Lives Matters, noting that “the burden of explanation” should not always lie on the oppressed themselves. “Even though I have these marginalized identities, I also carry white-bodied privilege,” they say. “I benefit from the invention of white supremacy, and that means that people are going to listen to me more often than not when I am speaking about systemic oppression.”
But despite being one of the few visible non-binary people in entertainment, Dillon overall has found their career develop very organically, with few people directly questioning or objecting to their gender fluidity. “If there is any sort of confusion of discomfort or questioning, I would say it’s happening sort of without my knowledge, behind closed doors either between my team and those casting directors and producers or in those rooms on their own,” Dillon says. “I would say that I haven’t encountered sort of pushback or confusion in a room that I’m in or regarding me going out for a role. Which has been really incredible.”
And certainly Dillon has built up an impressive resume and list of co-stars in a few short years, having now worked with the likes of Paul Giammatti, Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves. But Dillon is most interested in roles that challenge their skills above all else. They tell me they’d even like to exercise their theater roots with a movie musical.
there is any sort of confusion of discomfort or questioning, I would say it’s happening sort of without my knowledge, behind closed doors either between my team and those casting directors and producers or in those rooms on their own,” Dillon says. “I would say that I haven’t encountered sort of pushback or confusion in a room that I’m in or regarding me going out for a role. Which has been really incredible.”
And certainly Dillon has built up an impressive resume and list of co-stars in a few short years, having now worked with the likes of Paul Giammatti, Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves. But Dillon is most interested in roles that challenge their skills above all else. They tell me they’d even like to exercise their theater roots with a movie musical.
“I’d love to do anything that requires me to do a new skill,” Dillon says. “There are tons of skills I don’t have. I don’t know how to ride a horse. I don’t know jiu jitsu.” (Sadly, it turns out that working with Keanu Reeves does not automatically include him teaching you jiu jitsu or how to ride a horse, but perhaps a John Wick 4 will remedy that.)
Whether or not there’s a John Wick 4 to add to Dillon’s action movie chops remains to be seen. For now they’re just looking forward to finding out what lies ahead. “I’m excited about projects that will challenge me physically, as well as emotionally,” Dillon says. “And no matter what, whether it is art that I am self-generating or I’m collaborating with other people, that art is going to uplift and support historically marginalized, historically disenfranchised people, in one way or another.”
Up until now, Dillon hasn’t sacrificed their values in order to find roles, and it doesn’t seem that their growing fame is going to change that. The traditional Hollywood model so often extols the virtues of achieving fame and fortune by any means necessary, but Dillon’s career models a different kind of success, one that values doing the kind of work you want to in the way you want to.
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