Santana: one of 1st transgender actors to succeed in serious roles?

When it comes to life transformation, it doesn't get any more dramatic.

Two years ago Harmony Santana was a teenager, living as a man on the streets of New York, turning the occasional trick when it was necessary to eat. Today she's a beautiful young woman in transition, starring in an indie film that's gaining traction on the film festival circuit, sharing a Bronx walkup with two friends and lining up acting gigs with an eye toward college. At the Sundance Film Festival she met James Franco and Zoe Saldana, and mingled with the likes of Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie and Anne Hathaway.

In Gun Hill Road, the Opening Night selection for the Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Santana plays a shy teenage boy in a tough neighborhood who wants to live as a girl. But everything changes when his macho father, played by La Bamba's Esai Morales, is released from prison and returns home ready to reconnect with his oldest son.

It was a demanding first role for Santana, whose only acting experience was playing a Boy George lookalike in a high school production of The Wedding Singer. Santana will be at the Tampa Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 6 for Gun Hill Road, and for a couple days afterward to talk about the movie, her amazing life and her plans for the future.

â┚¬Å”I know who I am and what I want to accomplish,â┚¬Â Santana says. â┚¬Å”And I know that I can save lives with my career and, by example, my life.â┚¬Â

A lot of crying
A faded red couch is the only furniture in Santana's living room, just two noisy blocks from the Fordham Road subway station. There are no tables or lamps. The patched walls are bare.

It might feel dreary if it weren't for Santana, whose poised charm fills the room. Dressed in designer jeans, a feminine black scoop neck t-shirt, hoop earrings and hair pulled back in a flattering chignon, she pulses with ambition, but also humble disbelief at her change in circumstances.  

â┚¬Å”I'm living my dream,â┚¬Â she says.

The talented Santana could be one of the first transgender actors to establish a career beyond camp. Jaye Davidson received an Academy Award nomination for his turn in The Crying Game (1992). More recently, Candis Cayne and Laverne Cox are finding roles in television and movies, and Chaz Bono is successful as a celebrity activist.

But in the past, coveted transgender were filled by mainstream actors. John Lithgow played ex-football player Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp (1982). Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her breathtaking portrayal of a female-to-male murder victim in Boys Don't Cry (1999). And Felicity Huffman was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her touching turn as a trans woman in Transamerica (2005).

Santana's â┚¬Å”number one goalâ┚¬Â is to play women, and under the tutelage of Gun Hill Road producer Michelle-Anne Small she recently landed a juicy female role in another indie project currently filming in Brooklyn. Santana also has a recurring part in the Eating Out comedy trilogy currently airing on Logo, including a lead role in Eating Out: Drama Camp.

But right now, she's betting on Gun Hill Roadâ┚¬â€a finalist for the esteemed Jury Award at Sundanceâ┚¬â€to establish her chops as a legitimate actress. In it she plays Michael, a 16-year-old just exploring his sexuality and gender difference in the smothering environment of the Bronx. His mother (Judy Reyes of Scrubs) is accepting, but it is beyond his violent father's comprehension.

The role requires Santana, now 21, to play fight scenes, breakup scenes, sex scenes and even a brief nude scene.

â┚¬Å”I did a lot of crying,â┚¬Â she now laughs.

It helped that she was able to draw directly from her own experience. One of 13 children, Santana describes a strong bond with her mother and siblings in nearby New Jersey.

â┚¬Å”My relationship with my mom is actually better than the one in the movie,â┚¬Â Santana says. â┚¬Å”We share clothes, I give her makeup tipsâ┚¬Â¦ she's so open. And I go clubbing with my older sisters.â┚¬Â

She expresses sadness and scorn for a disapproving and emotionally violent father who lives in the Dominican Republic, and with whom she hasn't spoken in seven years

â┚¬Å”There was no physical abuse, but he'd slap my hand if it was limp and tell me to walk different,â┚¬Â Santana says. â┚¬Å”I overheard him calling me faggot.â┚¬Â

Green Chimneys
Santana's mother and father were together off and on for most of her pre-teen years, both giving birth to children in and outside the marriage. But as their relationship deteriorated, some of that time was spent in shelters with her mother, sister and two brothers. Santana, then a boy, lost his virginity at 13. And he grew close to his siblings, who accepted his femininity and attraction to other boys at an early age.       

Things got more difficult when his mother's new boyfriend moved in with the family. A disapproving disciplinarian, he shuttered a bedroom window to prevent escape. Santana stuck it out through high school and then left for New York, bouncing around between friends before ending up on the streets. Still living as a man, he contemplated suicide. When necessary, he sold himself to get money to live on.

â┚¬Å”It felt gross, but I'm not ashamed,â┚¬Â Santana says quietly. â┚¬Å”I needed money to live.â┚¬Â

And then he discovered Green Chimneys, a resource for homeless LGBT youth funded by the City of New York. The groundbreaking program provides shelter and a crack at a job for up to eighteen months. Thirty percent of any income is held back, and then applied to rent and other expenses when participants are ready to live on their own, as Santana is now.

It also provides much-needed professional and medical assistance for transgender youth. It was at Green Chimneys that Santana began living as a woman.  She also began volunteering for Harlem United, a nearby medical clinic with HIV testing and other services.

In June of 2010, Santana offered to staff a Harlem United booth at Queens Pride, and her life took a wholly unexpected turn.    

Queens Pride
Other than a small role in a high school musical, Santana had no acting experience. But she harbored dreams cultivated during that difficult childhood.

â┚¬Å”I used to watch DVDs in my bedroom. I'd pause certain scenes and then reenact them in front of the mirror, trying to do it even better than the actor in the movie,â┚¬Â she says, moving to demonstrate. â┚¬Å”My favorite was Titanic. I'd lean over the bed and be Kate Winsletâ┚¬Â¦ â┚¬ËœI'll never let go Jack!'â┚¬Â

At Queens Pride, Santana was unaware that Gun Hill Road director Green was conducting an extensive search to find the right actor for the most difficult-to-cast role. The actor had to look 16, Hispanic, and convincing as a transgender character without â┚¬Å”significant female development.â┚¬Â

â┚¬Å”I looked at attractive gay males who had experience with drag, but they didn't have the essence I was looking for,â┚¬Â Green told the New York Times. â┚¬Å”There's a difference between someone who's pretending to be female and someone who actually believes they are.â┚¬Â    

One of Green's assistants saw Santana at the Harlem United booth. He gave her a flyer, took a picture, and a few days later she was auditioning.

â┚¬Å”It was the first time I'd ever auditioned for anything,â┚¬Â she remembers. â┚¬Å”It must've gone well, because I got the part.â┚¬Â

Six weeks of intense daily lessons with NYU acting teacher Carra Patterson followed.

â┚¬Å”I didn't know I had so many emotional levels, or that I could access them when I wanted to,â┚¬Â Santana says. â┚¬Å”It opened my mind to feelings about my fatherâ┚¬Â¦ lots of stuff.â┚¬Â

There were also trips to the gym to lose weight and other physical requirements. Santana, who had just started living as a woman weeks prior, was forbidden to pluck her eyebrows, and she had to stop tanning and dye her hair black.

The shooting schedule was tight, often placing difficult demands on Santana and the other actors.

â┚¬Å”There's a scene where I break up with a boyfriend,â┚¬Â she recalls. â┚¬Å”It was filmed outdoors in a park, and I couldn't bring myself to the emotional state required in just two takes.
But we had to move on because we had to be at another location in time to catch the sunset.â┚¬Â

As for playing both sides of the transgender dichotomy, Santana used the same approach she had adopted in life.  

â┚¬Å”I just did me,â┚¬Â she says. â┚¬Å”I did feel like I had to butch it up sometimes, but most of the time I was meâ┚¬â€Harmonyâ┚¬â€even as a boy.â┚¬Â

Source of inspiration
Santana says the movie accelerated her transition in unexpected ways.

â┚¬Å”Everyone made me feel very comfortable,â┚¬Â she says. â┚¬Å”They called me â┚¬ËœHarmony.' They made it easy for me to fall into my own skin. Being cast in the movie gave me a lot of courage.â┚¬Â

She's taking hormones and other medications prescribed at the Callen Lorde Community Health Center in Manhattan, home to a world-renowned Transgender Health Services department. She eventually wants to undergo sexual reassignment surgery, but for now is pleased with the size and shape of her developingâ┚¬â€Ã¢â”šÂ¬Ã…”I like mine smallâ┚¬ÂÃ¢â”šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âand natural-looking breasts.

â┚¬Å”I'm so happy, but the surgery is a priority for me,â┚¬Â Santana says. â┚¬Å”Otherwise I wouldn't feel complete. It's hard to describe, but I want to feelâ┚¬Â¦ like me.â┚¬Â

And Santana wants other transgender men and women to feel that way, too. From her understanding family, to her rescue from the streets and good fortune in landing the role in Gun Hill Road, she knows she's been lucky.

â┚¬Å”There's nothing like it when someone comes up to you and says you've inspired them,â┚¬Â she says. â┚¬Å”A woman contacted me on facebook and told me she'd wanted to transition when she was young but felt she couldn't because she had a child that needed a father. She told me she'd seen the film, and it had inspired her to be herself. Stuff like that really gets to me. I didn't know I could ever feel that way.â┚¬Â