The Austrian actress Thea Ehre sees it as an important step to portray on television characters whose gender history isn’t a focal point. In Kiel’s Tatort, the 26-year-old transgender woman plays forensic investigator Paula Rinck in the episodes “Unter Freunden” (aired last Sunday and now available on the ARD Mediathek) and “Unter Feinden” (airing next Sunday on Das Erste, on SRF 1 and ORF 2) — a role that, on the page, is written as a regular investigative figure without any trans background.
In an interview with the Kleine Zeitung (a paywalled piece), Ehre described this casting as a clear win for more nuanced casting: “I have also played other roles where my trans identity doesn’t matter at all. My goal is for a character to have her own story. I’m interested in the psychology behind it: How does this person work? What’s inside them?”
Ehre doesn’t want to be reduced to always “playing herself,” but instead focuses on developing complex characters.
When asked how television audiences perceive her character, the Silver Bear prizewinner responded calmly: “Some viewers will read me as trans, others won’t. Both are okay. I can’t control how people read me or what they write about me. The less I try to steer it, the easier it becomes.”
Sexualized Violence Against Women: “Why Do We Have to Show These Images?”
Beyond the debate about roles, Ehre also spoke about depictions of femicides and violence against women in the crime genre. She questioned the overly sensationalist portrayal of violence against women: “We must talk about violence against women; it’s important to talk about it. But I don’t need to see it explicitly.”
At the same time, she emphasized that feelings of threat in daily life are a shared reality for all women. She has faced such experiences herself — not only because she is trans but also because she is a woman, Ehre said. “Many women know these situations: walking home at night, someone whistles at you, you have to pass through a group of men, or you’re touched on the subway.”
She also complains of a palpable societal and funding-related backlash against trans people. She asked herself, “If this continues, can I even keep working?” Still, Ehre remains hopeful about the media industry. Going off the idea of simply disappearing is not an option: “Disappearing is not an option.” After work in Vienna, the actress is now also working internationally and plans future appearances in historical projects.
