Asia Kate Dillon (Billions, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) shared an Instagram post last week to say that they are looking to return to service work. Dillon has been working in theater, film, and television for the last eleven years. In the Showtime drama Billions, Dillon, a nonbinary actor, made history with the role of Taylor Mason, the first nonbinary main character in a North American TV show.

Dillon opens their post, describing their earlier career path. Back when they were a teenager, Dillon worked in food service for fifteen years, until acting could financially support them full time. But now things have changed.

Now, like for many, many performer colleagues of mine – particularly those of us who are trans/nonbinary/gender nonconforming – acting work has all but diminished, and I’m in need of service work once more.

As Dillon points out, this experience is not unique to them and is instead part of a growing trend. Star of the recent satirical slasher film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Jack Haven, another nonbinary actor, posted a video last September, expressing a dire need for work before the end of the year. Similarly, trans actor Elliot Page, who just finished work on Nolan’s blockbuster film The Odyssey, stated, in an interview with Kevin McCarthy, “It’s a little tricky for me to get cast right now, I think that’s for pretty obvious reasons.”