Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Plant.
Hi Adam, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve loved theatre and acting for as long as I can remember. I grew up listening to my grandparents’ broadway musical soundtracks, and going to see shows with my mom. As soon as I was old enough, I started auditioning for the youth community theatre in my hometown – that became my happy place, and the people involved became some of my closest friends. It was where I was able to be most authentically myself – partly due to the fact that there were never enough boys, so I was often recruited to play the boy roles. At a time when I didn’t have a word for how I felt, getting to step into a world where I was a boy for a few hours felt like a dream come true.
I always had aspirations to be a professional actor, but as I grew older and could no longer feasibly play boy roles, I developed paralyzing stage fright that made that dream feel impossible. Still, I majored in Vocal Music at Elon University – but as a back-up plan decided to add a Religious Studies major.
After graduating, I found myself applying to seminaries and divinity schools and ended up pursuing an M.Div. at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. It was there that I came out as trans and the trajectory of my life changed. I was involved in a local community theatre at the time, and found that, as soon as I started living as my true self, my crippling stage fright all but disappeared. I felt fully connected – body, mind, and soul – and that allowed me to show up onstage in a way I never had before.
I graduated from the M.Div. program, booked my first professional acting job at an outdoor theatre, and haven’t looked back! I worked in regional theatre from 2016-2020, and when the pandemic hit and all of my gigs disappeared for the next two years, I pivoted to train in acting for the camera. I booked my first co-star role in 2021, have found a love of working on indie projects, and am continuing to hone my skills as a screen actor.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Working as a trans actor in theatre always feels a bit like a game of chess – especially in the Southeast, where it tends to be a mixed bag of conservative and progressive folks who you’re working with. I have to weigh the odds of whether someone will treat me differently if they know that I’m trans – and sometimes that choice is taken from me entirely, if someone in the cast decides that it’s their right to out me without my consent.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m most proud of the short film that I wrote, co-produced, co-directed, and acted in. I had become frustrated with the lack of roles in TV and film that were actually written as trans, and decided that if I wanted to see those roles then I needed to create them myself. So I wrote a script for a short film called “Order For Ben”. I partnered with Kristina Arjona, who is a wonderful Atlanta-based director, producer, and Intimacy Coordinator, and together we were able to raise the money through crowdfunding and grants. We filmed in Atlanta with a majority queer and trans crew, premiered at Out On Film in 2024, and the film is now in the festival circuit!
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I’m always looking to collaborate with other actors, filmmakers, and theatre companies to produce new work that amplifies queer and trans voices, or to reimagine existing works in a way that includes those voices.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liminaladam
- Email: [email protected]
