Zoe Luper is a fictional character portrayed by actor
Jeffrey Carlson
Jeffrey Carlson (born June 23, 1975) is an American, Broadway, film, television actor and singer, known for his role as the transgender character, Zoe on the long-running daytime soap opera ''All My Children''.
Education
Carlson was born in ...
on the
ABC daytime drama
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored b ...
''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...
''. Zoe is perhaps the first
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 ...
television character depicted at the beginning of
male-to-female
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and some ...
transition and
coming out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
.
The character debuted in August 2006 as Zarf, an English rock star who presents as male. Zarf/Zoe returned during the period of November 29, 2006 to April 26, 2007.
Zoe was created by ''All My Children'' head writer
Megan McTavish
Megan McTavish (born April 2, 1949, Elgin, Illinois) is American television actress and soap opera writer. McTavish is best known for several head writing stints on ''All My Children''.
Early career
Before becoming a writer, McTavish was a Chica ...
. She was inspired by ''
TransGeneration
''TransGeneration'' is a US documentary-style reality television series that affords a view into the lives of four transgender college students during the 2004–2005 academic year. Two of the students are trans women, and two are trans me ...
'' (2005), a documentary-style reality series about transgender students at US universities.
Storylines
Zoe is introduced on August 23, 2006, as Freddie Luper, a male-presenting English musician whose stage name is Zarf. Due to a strained relationship with her father, Freddie had left home at age 16. At 19, Zarf is a rock star and a millionaire. In 2006,
Babe Carey Chandler and
Josh Madden
Joshua "Josh" Madden is a fictional character from the American daytime drama, ''All My Children''. He first came to Pine Valley on June 17, 2005, and was originally portrayed by actor Scott Kinworthy until September 15, 2005. Following Kinworthy ...
persuade Zarf to sign a contract allowing them to use her music in an
ad campaign for Fusion Cosmetics.
In the episode of November 29, 2006, Zarf causes a stir by meditating in the nude at the offices of Fusion Cosmetics (to connect with the creative energies). Zarf meets
Bianca Montgomery
Bianca Montgomery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama ''All My Children''. Until Eden Riegel assumed the role, portraying the character from July 2000 to January 2010, the character was portrayed solely by child actresses: La ...
, and instantly falls in love with her; but when Zarf kisses her, she is angry, and informs her that she is a
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
. Zarf realizes that there is a reason she was attracted to a lesbian.
On
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
, Zarf
comes out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as a
transgender lesbian
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and some ...
named Zoe.
Later, Zoe (still presenting as Zarf) is suspected of being the Satin Slayer, a serial killer who poisoned
Simone Torres and Erin Lavery, and who attempted to kill
Danielle Frye. When she is openly accused at the Chandler Mansion, she reveals that she is transgender. No one believes her except
Babe
Babe or babes may refer to:
* Babe, a term of endearment
* A newborn baby
* An attractive (especially female) person
People Nickname
* Babe Adams (1882–1968), American Major League Baseball pitcher
* Babe Barna (1917–1972), American Maj ...
. Some people in the town of Pine Valley come to accept Zoe as a woman, but others remain skeptical of her and of transgender experience in general. Zoe is attacked by the Satin Slayer and survives. She is cleared of suspicion when the true killer is revealed to be
Alexander Cambias, Sr.
As part of her
transition, Zoe joins a transgender support group and meets with an
endocrinologist
Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...
. She talks with her mother about being transgender; their relationship improves. Zoe says she has not decided whether or not to undergo
genital reassignment surgery. She receives a letter from her father, who says that he hopes to be able one day to accept and love Zoe as he loved Freddie. She returns to her home in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to continue her transition, and to begin work on a new album. Bianca goes with her.
Creation
Zoe was created by
Megan McTavish
Megan McTavish (born April 2, 1949, Elgin, Illinois) is American television actress and soap opera writer. McTavish is best known for several head writing stints on ''All My Children''.
Early career
Before becoming a writer, McTavish was a Chica ...
, head writer for ''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...
''. Her inspiration for the character was ''
TransGeneration
''TransGeneration'' is a US documentary-style reality television series that affords a view into the lives of four transgender college students during the 2004–2005 academic year. Two of the students are trans women, and two are trans me ...
'' (2005), a
docusoap
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
about
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 ...
students at universities in the US. "I found
he students'experiences so moving that I started thinking along those lines," she said. Before taping Zoe's episodes, the production team consulted with transgender people and the US non-profit
GLAAD
GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayal ...
(Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
Jeffrey Carlson
Jeffrey Carlson (born June 23, 1975) is an American, Broadway, film, television actor and singer, known for his role as the transgender character, Zoe on the long-running daytime soap opera ''All My Children''.
Education
Carlson was born in ...
, who plays Zoe, is an American actor who affects an English accent for the role.
''All My Children''
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...
Julie Hanan Carruthers issued a
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...
statement when Zoe's forthcoming storyline was announced:
Carruthers told the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
that ''All My Children'' was in search of something new, and that the production team was aware that their audience was drawn to plot elements dealing with sex and sexuality.
The show had lost more than 60% of its audience since 1992.
Although Zoe is not the first transgender character to appear in a US daytime drama, she may be the first
transfeminine
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 tr ...
character on US television to come out as transgender, and then to begin transitioning.
In ''
The City'', a daytime drama that aired on
ABC from 1995 to '97, Carlotta Chang played Azure C., a model who has already transitioned, and who comes out to her fiancé as
transsexual
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
.
In early 2006, ''
The L Word
''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene Ch ...
'' introduced a storyline in which the character
Moira Sweeney comes out as a
trans man
A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...
, and changes his given name to Max as part of his transition.
Max is portrayed by
Daniel Sea.
See also
*
List of ''All My Children'' characters
*
Laura Jane Grace
*
Maya Avant
Maya Avant is a fictional character from ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', an American soap opera on the CBS network, portrayed by Karla Mosley. Introduced as a series regular in 2013, ex-con Maya comes to town looking for her daughter who was put ...
References
External links
''Zoe's Journey''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luper, Zoe
All My Children characters
Fictional singers
Fictional transgender women
Television characters introduced in 2006
Male characters in television
Female characters in television
Fictional LGBT characters in television