Hunter Schafer

Hunter Schafer (born December31, 1998) is an American actress, model and activist. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Schafer was assigned male at birth and transitioned as a child. She came to public attention after joining a 2016 lawsuit against North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, a so-called "bathroom bill" which prevented transgender people from using public bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. For her activism, she was named to Teen Vogues "21 Under 21" list in 2017.

Schafer has studied watercolor painting and clothing design. In 2017, she began work as a fashion model for various brands. Schafer had initially planned to attend an arts college to further study clothing design, but instead decided to transition to acting when she was cast in the HBO teen drama television series Euphoria (2019–2026). Her role as transgender high school student Jules Vaughn, and her co-writing credit on an episode of the series, garnered her critical praise.

Schafer has since starred in the films The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) and Cuckoo (2024), and had minor roles in Kinds of Kindness (2024) and the English dub of the Japanese film Belle (2021). Schafer has continued to model after getting into acting, serving as brand ambassador for Shiseido Makeup, Prada, and Mugler.

Early life Schafer was born on December 31, 1998, in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father was a pastor, and the family moved between churches and congregations in New Jersey, Arizona, and finally Raleigh, North Carolina, where Schafer was raised. She has three younger siblings: two sisters and a brother. Schafer said she started expressing femininity as a toddler. In seventh grade, Schafer came out to her parents as a gay boy, and started experiencing gender dysphoria in eighth grade. In ninth grade, she came out as a transgender girl and began transitioning after being diagnosed with dysphoria.

Schafer first made headlines in 2016 when she became the youngest name listed as a plaintiff on a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Lambda Legal, Carcaño v. McCrory, against the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The bill prevented trans people from using the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity, instead deciding bathroom usage based on their assigned sex at birth. While acting as a plaintiff, she made a film protesting the bill, which was released by the online magazine Rookie. For her activism, including her activism against the Act, Teen Vogue listed Schafer on its 2017 "21 Under 21" list of women and femme trailblazers under the age of 21 and granted her an interview with Hillary Clinton.

In early childhood, Schafer developed skills in visual arts, including watercolor painting; in high school, she used these skills to design clothes. The inspirations for her visual style were Tim Burton and Skottie Young. She posted watercolor and photography works on her Instagram account, which became popular. Her clothing designs, which often incorporated political activist messaging, were profiled by Huffington Post in 2017. She contributed illustrations and comic art to Rookie, as well as essays. In 2017, Schafer became a semifinalist in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

Career

Modeling and acting in Euphoria (2017–2020) Schafer started modeling shortly after high school. She wanted to use the privileges of "looking like a model" to deconstruct ideas regarding gender identity. In 2017, she signed with Elite Model Management after meeting an agent of theirs on Instagram, so she moved to Brooklyn to model in New York City. She first worked with Dior and Marc Jacobs, among other brands, and by the end of the year she had modeled for Converse, Gucci, Helmut Lang, and Versus Versace. After high school, Schafer planned to attend Central Saint Martins, an arts college in London, where she was accepted, to study clothing design for non-binary people. She joined the show after finding a casting call for transgender girls on Instagram, which required no previous acting experience. A few days later, her modeling agency told her she received the audition. She did her final audition in Los Angeles, filmed the show's pilot there a month later, Schafer also worked with the show's costume designer, Heidi Bivens, to make Jules' wardrobe. For the role, she received a Shorty Award, an MTV Movie & TV Award, and a Dorian Award. The Advocate wrote that she was one of many transgender actors not nominated at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards who should have been. In 2020, Queerty named her among the 50 queer people "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people". In 2021, Schafer co-wrote an episode of Euphoria that was released between its first and second seasons, titled "Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob". The episode, which features Jules in therapy describing her experiences in womanhood, was critically acclaimed.

In 2024, following Euphoria 's second season, Schafer's Cuckoo co-star Dan Stevens said that her experience filming Euphoria was "by all accounts, not a terribly pleasant one", and that filming Cuckoo was "refreshing and delightful for her", as "we can still shoot [this] difficult scene, but everybody’s still friends, [and] nobody needs to have months of therapy afterwards". Reporting on Stevens' comments, IndieWire noted regarding Euphoria 's production that there had been "reports of a toxic workplace environment led by [...] Sam Levinson".

Film roles and brand ambassadorships (2020–present) In 2020, she became the global brand ambassador for Shiseido Makeup, and in 2021, Prada announced Schafer as their new house ambassador. Also in 2021, Time named her to its Next list of "100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future", with a tribute written by Euphoria co-star Zendaya. In 2022, Schafer starred in the English dub of the Japanese animated film Belle,

Schafer starred in the 2023 The Hunger Games prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Director Francis Lawrence said that Schafer was chosen for the part due to her disarming authenticity and described how her audition performance was "endearing and warm"—qualities they wanted for Tigris.

Schafer has continued modeling throughout her acting career, appearing for Alexander McQueen, Prada and Schiaparelli, among other houses. At the after party held by Vanity Fair for the 95th Academy Awards in 2023, she wore only a white maxi skirt and a top which was simply a horizontal feather covering her nipples, attached to a thin strap; W magazine wrote the outfit, designed by Ludovic de Saint Sernin for the Ann Demeulemeester label, became "infamous", being "the talk of the Oscars after parties" and "[setting] the Internet ablaze". Spanish pop singer Rosalía later referenced Schafer's outfit by wearing the top and similar pants for a photoshoot that included the eventual cover art of her 2025 album Lux (though she wears an additional top in the cover photo). Since the press tour for Songbirds & Snakes, Schafer has been stylized by Dara Allen, whom she first met when they both started modelling in 2017; Allen has characterized Schafer as one of her best friends, and some have attributed part of Schafer's fashion success to their collaboration.

In 2024, Schafer was in Cuckoo, a horror movie directed by Tilman Singer. She plays an American teenager who reluctantly visits a creepy, remote resort in Germany with her family. It was her first lead role in a feature film; Schafer called it a scary experience, as it was the first thing she starred in after Euphoria, describing it as "the training wheels" turning off. Her portrayal was said to be "an intense and emotional central performance". In 2025, Schafer starred in The Hunt, a horror short film directed by Nadia Lee Cohen to promote the autumn 2025 campaign of South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster. In 2026, she was in David Lowery's drama film Mother Mary. The initial rumor had created a significant amount of both supportive and transphobic reactions online and in the media; multiple outlets theorized the casting of Bragason, a cisgender woman, was a response by Nintendo to avoid further transphobic backlash, but this has not been confirmed.

Schafer has upcoming roles in Tom Ford's drama film Cry to Heaven, an adaptation of Anne Rice's novel; Zach Strauss' directorial debut horror film, Palette; Hideo Kojima's horror video game OD, the Amazon sci-fi television series Blade Runner 2099,

Personal life

In 2019, Schafer said that she was "closer to what you might call a lesbian", and in 2021, she stated she was "bi or pan or something". She also said in 2019 that she used she/her pronouns, but also used the title of "Mx. Schafer". She claims their relationship ended after she found out he cheated on her.

In February 2025, Schafer uploaded a TikTok video in which she criticized the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of State for changing her passport gender marker from female to male without her consent or knowledge. She stated the following day that she spoke out because "it's important to just keep track of where things are in our country". Marcy Rheintgen, believed to be the first person arrested under Florida's Facility Requirements Based on Sex Act, describes Schafer as a personal hero who inspired her to challenge the law after Schafer was issued the male passport.

She has attended the Met Gala for three years: 2021, 2025, and 2026. For two of those years, she has worn Prada.

Views In 2016, Schafer stated, "I do like people to know that I'm not a cis girl because that's not something that I am or feel like I am." In 2024, she told Vogue that she tries to balance not being seen only as the "trans starlet" while also managing to fulfill her "responsibility of representation", saying: "All the time I'm kind of doing the math of when to reel it in and when to lean into it".

In 2022, Schafer liked and commented "!!!!!" on an Instagram post that criticized certain non-binary activists who "fought to have trans identities no longer [be] considered" by the medical world "as a medical condition that requires [gender] dysphoria", and "couldn't stand to let binary trans people be the voice of [the trans] community", linking such activism to U.S. legislation targeting transgender rights. This prompted accusations that Schafer had endorsed transmedicalism; she denied this, saying she merely felt there was "an [imbalance] in the visibility and space taken up between non-binary folks and binary trans women (particularly those of color and/or those who have [resorted] to sex work as a means of survival) that think deserves attention/re-evaluation (as far as resources and platforms go) within the LGBTQ+ community".

On February 27, 2024, Schafer and fifty other people were arrested in New York City while at a Jewish Voice for Peace protest advocating for a ceasefire in the Gaza war. The protest was outside 30 Rockefeller Center, intended to disrupt U.S. president Joe Biden's interview for Late Night with Seth Meyers, which was being taped inside.

Filmography

Film + Year Title Role Notes 2022 Belle Ruka "Ruka-chan" Watanabe Voice role; English dub 2023 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Tigris Snow 2024 Cuckoo Gretchen Kinds of Kindness Anna 2026 Mother Mary Hilda 2027 Christina Post-production

Television + Year Title Role Notes 2019–2026 Euphoria Jules Vaughn 2025 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself Guest judge: "Let's Get Sea Sickening Ball" 2026 Cora Miniseries; post-production

Music videos + Year Title Role Notes 2022 Girl in Red – "Hornylovesickmess" Director 2023 Anohni and the Johnsons – "Why Am I Alive Now?" Director

Video games + Year Title Role Notes OD In development since 2022

Awards and nominations + Year Organization Award Work Result 2020 GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics We're Wilde About You! Rising Star of the Year Euphoria 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Kiss(Shared with Dominic Fike) 2025 Independent Spirit Awards Best Lead Performance Cuckoo