LOS ANGELES (AP) - The first openly transgender actor in the Marvel Universe said there needs to be more representation of his experience.
Zach Barack plays a classmate of Peter Parker's in "Spider-Man: Far From Home." His gender identity is not addressed in the brief role.
Barack said to him, superhero movies "always felt like a trans story because it's talking about identity."
"It's about separating what people know about you and what they don't," Barack said at last week's premiere of the film. "And I think that's something I kind of live with every day. And on top of that, I don't see a lot of trans-masculine people on television or trans men specifically, and getting to be part of that is beyond unreal."
The 23-year-old Chicago-area native, who also appeared in the TV series "L.A.'s Finest," said there needs to be more roles for trans people in all sorts of movies.
The new Spider-Man movie is now playing in theaters.