Raleigh-native got their start in acting by being at the right place at the right time. As the smart, quirky kid who hung out at while their mom worked front of house, Watson got called in to play all kinds of roles, from a child in the throes of the Enron scandal to a dog. Their acting chops earned them many future roles including the titular part in 鈥淗enry VI,鈥� but it was the experience of playing such a wide swath of characters that Watson says helped them learn to express their identity in an authentic way.
Seventeen-year-old Watson identifies as genderqueer or non-binary and currently stars as the nonbinary character Susie Putnam in the Netflix series 鈥�.鈥� The show has been a massive success and thrown Watson and their own personal story into the limelight. Watson wakes up to hundreds of messages a day from parents, teachers, and gender-nonconforming kids who are thrilled about the Susie storyline and what it represents for others around the country.
I like to think about my gender journey as a three-part opera in a way ... It was a revolution against the system. I don't have to live my life and do the things to my body that the world tells me that I have to do. - Lachlan Watson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybKUX6thF8Q
Being myself at all is seen as an act of rebellion. It's hard being yourself when being yourself holds you back in a way ...It's overwhelming to be one of the only ones. It's hard to not see yourself reflected. - Lachlan Watson
While Watson is clear to express that that they and Susie are not the same person, Watson has used their own personal experience to shape the character and encourage the show鈥檚 writers and showrunner to be more sensitive to a storyline that will resonate with other genderqueer kids.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Lachlan Watson about their acting career, the upcoming second season of the show and their hopes for a less-binary Hollywood future.
