Harmony Santana is an American film actress. She is most noted for her appearance in the 2011 film ''
Gun Hill Road'', for which she garnered an
Independent Spirit Award
The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...
nomination for
Best Supporting Actress, and became the first openly
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
actress to be nominated for a major acting award in the United States. In addition to ''Gun Hill Road'', Santana has also had supporting roles in ''
Eating Out 4: Drama Camp'', ''
Eating Out 5: The Open Weekend'', and the Susie Singer Carter-directed short film "My Mom and the Girl."
At the time of her performance in ''Gun Hill Road'', Santana lived at Green Chimneys, a
group home
A group home, congregate living facility, or care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English) is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for childre ...
for
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term i ...
youth in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
.
["When They Play Women, It’s Not Just an Act"]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', July 28, 2011. She was discovered by director Rashaad Ernesto Green at the
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
Pride parade after he had difficulty finding the right performer for the role.
She is of mixed
Puerto Rican and
Dominican heritage.
"Will Transgender Actress Harmony Santana Be the Next Latina to Win an Oscar?"
''Latina'', August 4, 2011.
See also
* LGBT culture in New York City
New York City is home to one of the largest LGBTQ populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of ''Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day,'' wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most power ...
* List of self-identified LGBTQ New Yorkers
New York City is home to one of the largest LGBT populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of ''Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day,'' writes that the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most ...
References
External links
*
American film actresses
Hispanic and Latino American actresses
American people of Dominican Republic descent
Actresses from New York City
Transgender actresses
Living people
American LGBT actors
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Year of birth missing (living people)
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