Transgender actress Hunter Schafer reveals she had bottom surgery in December
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The gist
Transgender actress Hunter Schafer, known for "Euphoria," said she had bottom surgery in December.
Her Elle interview puts a public face on gender-affirming care amid shifting US policy.
Background
Hunter Schafer is a 27-year-old transgender actress known for playing Jules Vaughn in HBO's "Euphoria," and has also appeared in "Cuckoo," "Mother Mary" and "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes." She began transitioning at age 14 and said the decision to have the operation was one she came to slowly. The disclosure lands after Trump's executive order directing state agencies to recognize only male and female genders as assigned at birth on identification; Rolling Stone noted Schafer previously revealed her new U.S. passport marked her gender as male despite her applying as female.
How it unfolded
- 2024Schafer told GQ she had tried to avoid saying the word "trans" in interviews, saying she had been offered many trans roles but did not want to do them.
- Sep 14, 2025Schafer attended the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
- December 2025Schafer had bottom surgery, a gender-affirming operation, according to her Elle interview.
- Early 2026Her recovery stretched into early 2026; she rented a large apartment and had friends and family visit while required to lie flat, with a limit of 150 steps per day.
- Apr 7, 2026Schafer attended the Los Angeles premiere of HBO's "Euphoria" Season 3 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
- May 4, 2026Schafer attended the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
- Oct 19, 2026Elle published its interview in which Schafer revealed the surgery; outlets including E! News, Just Jared, Variety, Rolling Stone, TMZ and The Hollywood Reporter reported it the same day.
Who’s saying what
- Schafer
- She said the surgery "was amazing, and I love it so much," and that her identity now feels "flatter" — "I'm a woman. I'm a girl."
- Schafer
- She said she long embraced the gender-expansive part of herself and wanted to make her previous body work, but kept hitting a wall where a theoretical queer utopia didn't match the world she encountered.
- Schafer
- On her passport gender marker being changed to male, she said a letter on a passport can't change her transness but makes life a little harder, adding "Fuck this administration."