Birthdate: Dec 31, 1998
Birthplace: Trenton, New Jersey, USA
Hunter Schafer is one of the most visible and acclaimed young openly trans actors in television and film, having established her fame in her acting debut in the striking role of Jules in HBO’s hit series, Euphoria (2019-present). Schafer’s debut performance on the big screen was the voice role of Ruka in the praised English-dubbed version of writer-director Mamoru Hosoda’s animated fantasy film for Toho Studio, Belle (2021), which grossed (in all versions) $64 million globally and premiere at the Cannes film festival.
Schafer’s first starring movie role was in director-writer Tillman Singer’s horror film, Cuckoo (2023), with Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, and Marton Csokas, and released by Neon. Schafer landed a plum major role in Lionsgate Films’ The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), the fifth entry in the series, directed by Francis Lawrence and co-starring Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Josh Andres Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, and Viola Davis. Hunter Schafer was co-star with Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway in director-writer-producer David Lowery’s epic melodrama, Mother Mary (date to be announced), with A24 as distributor.
Schafer was cast in Yorgos Lanthimos’ film, AND (date to be announced), starring Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Mamoudou Athie, Margaret Qualley, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, and Joe Alwyn, and which was produced by Searchlight Pictures, Film4, and Element Pictures. When not acting, Schafer has been a model for brands and designers Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Prada, Dior, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Erdem, Thierry Mugler, and Versus Versace, among others.
Hunter Schafer was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and was raised in Trenton, Arizona, and Raleigh, North Carolina, by parents Katy and Mac Schafer (Presbyterian minister). Schafer has two younger sisters and one younger brother. Schafer attended Needham B. Broughton High School, where as a junior in 2016 she protested in opposition to North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, and was added as a plaintiff in the lawsuit contesting the state’s bill.
Schafer then transferred to the North Carolina School of the Arts, completing the school’s High School Visual Arts program before graduating in 2017. As Schafer concentrated on her acting and modeling careers in 2018, she put her plans on hold to attend the London arts college, Central Saint Martins. Schafer identifies as a trans woman and prefers female pronouns; she was diagnosed with dysphoria in the ninth grade, and has said that “I am proud to be a trans person.” Schafer’s height is 5’ 10”. Schafer’s estimated net worth is $4 million.
Nominee, Best Kiss, MTV Movie + TV Awards (2022);
Activist: Hunter Schafer earned a spot on Teen Vogue’s “21 Under 21” for her activism against and legal opposition to North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, thereby granting Schafer a one-on-one interview with Hillary Clinton.
Honors: Schafer was named by Queerty Magazine as one of 50 heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people” in 2020, and was also named in 2021 to Time Magazine’s “Next” list of “100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future.”