Asia Kate Dillon (born November 15, 1984) is an American actor. They are known for their roles as Brandy Epps in ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...

'' and Taylor Mason in '' Billions''. Dillon identifies as

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and uses

singular they Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'', and ''themselves'' (also ''themself'' and ''theirself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun derived from plural they. It typically oc ...

pronouns. Their role on ''Billions'' is the first non-binary main character on North American television, and earned them a

Critics' Choice Television Award The Critics' Choice Television Awards were accolades that were presented annually by the Critics Choice Association (CCA). They were established in 2011, and the first ceremony was held on June 20, 2011, and streamed live on VH1.com. The fou ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. They also played the Adjudicator in the action film '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' (2019).

Career

Dillon graduated from the

American Musical and Dramatic Academy The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) is a private conservatory for the performing arts in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and certificates ...

. They enrolled in and completed the Meisner training program at The Actor's Workshop of Ithaca during their junior year of high school at age 16. They were the youngest student ever admitted to the class. In 2007, Dillon took the

title role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

Rachel Corrie Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American nonviolence activist and diarist. She was a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and was active throughout the Israeli-occupied terr ...

in the play ''

My Name Is Rachel Corrie ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie'' is a play based on the diaries and emails of activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli soldier when she was aged 23. It was jointly edited by journalist Katharine Viner and actor Alan Rickman, who also d ...

''. Afterward, they took part in a workshop of plays with

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

- and

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning playwrights. This was followed by a featured lead role as Lucifer in ''

The Mysteries ''The Mysteries'' is a cycle of three medieval English mystery plays first presented at London's National Theatre in 1977 which tell a story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Background It is based largely on the Wakefield cycle of p ...

'', and a role in ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' at the

Shakespeare Theatre Company The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a Regional theater in the United States, regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. The theatre company focuses primarily on plays from the William Shakespeare, Shakespeare canon, but its seasons inc ...

in Washington, DC.MIRROR/FIRE Productions
/ref> Dillon played

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

Brandy Epps, a penitentiary inmate, in eight episodes of ''

'' in 2016, making them one of the first openly non-binary actors cast in a major television show. They also played a recurring role in season 2 of

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

drama '' Billions'' in 2017. The role they played is a non-binary character, Taylor Mason, a

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

intern, who is reported to be the first non-binary character on mainstream North American television. Showtime confirmed in April 2017 that Mason would be a main cast member starting in season 3. When submitting their name for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for acting, Dillon was allowed to submit for whichever gendered category they wished, and chose "actor" over "actress" because it is a gender neutral word. Their effort to clarify the matter for all non-binary people prompted the

MTV Movie & TV Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show previously presented annually on MTV. It began as the MTV Movie Awards in 1992, when its first edition was held, and adopted its current name in 2017, beginning with its 26th editio ...

to combine their gender-segregated categories. They presented the award for Best Actor at the MTV Movie & TV Awards on May 7, 2017. In November 2018, it was announced Dillon would appear in '' The Outside Story''. Dillon is the founder and producing director of MIRROR/FIRE Productions, which created ''US'', a performance piece exploring

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

movement in the United States. In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...

, an event widely considered a watershed moment in the modern

LGBTQ rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or politica ...

, ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay- and LGBTQ-oriented entertainment and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was ...

'' named them one of the ''Pride50'' "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

, acceptance and dignity for all

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

people". On March 28, 2020, Dillon released their first EP, ''Handsomehands'', with profits being donated to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute.

Personal life

Dillon was born in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. They identify as

and were

assigned female at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the ...

. Dillon explained that around 2015, they began removing gendered pronouns from their biography, and auditioning for the part of Mason helped them understand their gender identity. Dillon is

pansexual Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people of all genders, or regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determ ...

, stating they are attracted to multiple genders. In September 2021, Dillon told ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

''s "Hollywood Remixed" podcast that they use the word "non-binary" because their "gender identity falls outside the boxes of man or woman." They stated that gender is a spectrum, without a binary that was "created by colonists and imposed on the indigenous peoples," and that "sex is not a binary either."

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Asia Kate Living people 21st-century American actors American pansexual actors LGBTQ people from New York (state) Actors from New York (state) Actors from Ithaca, New York 1984 births American television actors American non-binary actors 21st-century American LGBTQ people American Musical and Dramatic Academy alumni Non-binary pansexual people