'Queen Charlotte'’s Arsema Thomas Isn’t Interested in Traditional Gender Roles

Arsema Thomas didn’t even watch Bridgerton before landing the role as the young Lady Agatha Danbury in its new prequel, Queen Charlotte — but that didn’t stop her from manifesting a part on the Netflix show. “When I first got the audition, there was no Lady Danbury,” Thomas, who uses she/they pronouns, explains. Instead, they were asked to do a chemistry read with lines from the first season of the series. "At the time, I also hadn't watched Bridgerton either, so it was difficult to even figure out what I was signing up for. I think there was something cosmically working that just brought me and Agatha [Lady Danbury] together. I think it was interesting because when I did watch Bridgerton, and this was after meeting the executive producers and maybe three rounds of auditions, I realized that this was the only character I could connect with.” 

Some might say it was fate, but Thomas knows who she is — and her sense of self guides the career choices and the roles she takes on. 

“In a world so staunch with heteronormativity, where all of the gender roles are pretty much just as prominent characters as the characters themselves, it was so difficult to find a place where I could see myself enjoying the storytelling [in Queen Charlotte], except in Lady Danbury. There's something about her tenacity, her want…that freedom and independence in her life is something that I just find to be so novel, especially for a character that is a woman in any time period. She doesn't need anybody: man, woman, or person in between. She's not maternal. There are just all these bits about her that defy what we all think of as a woman; I think that was what made me obsessed with playing her.”

Much like Lady Danbury, Arsema Thomas has a natural instinct to defy expectations — especially as it pertains to their gender and sexuality. “I was like, ‘You know what? I like they/she pronouns. I feel like that makes me feel the most at home in my body because I don't feel like a woman, but I don't enjoy the word 'they,' because, as a Black person, that feels dehumanizing, but I'm not a woman.’ So I use they/she to signify that. I refer to myself as a queer person, mostly because I'm not heterosexual, and also as being non-binary. How could I be heterosexual? What is the opposite of ‘non-binary’? It doesn't exist.” 

In lieu of sitting their friends and family down for a grand declaration or posting an official post on social media, Thomas says they never “actually came out.”

“I always kind of knew I was queer. I just didn't know what queer I was, if that makes sense because I always had this strange relationship to the ‘feminine parts of my physical appearance.’ And so I, one, was scared that if I came out and they asked questions, I don't even know how to answer them because I don't know. So I thought I had to be very sure, have all my ducks in a row before I came out. And then I think it was Pride in London last year…There was something really just freeing about, ‘I don't need to know. I don't. I can just be. I don't actually even have to come out. I'm just going to be myself because I always and forever will be Arsema.' Nothing has changed just because now my family knows a bit more about me."

Arsema Thomas’s dedication to being true to herself extends to her appearance, too. “I recognize my hair says way more than I thought it did. I thought I could pretty much rock up to an audition, and whatever hairstyle was there, it would be kosher. But I've had acting teachers tell me, ‘Don't wear braids because that's not professional,’ or ‘Don't wear a wig,’ or, ‘Maybe you should shave your hair because then you look as plain, as much as a white canvas as possible.’” 

Instead of making a choice (in what seems to be a lose-lose decision either way), Thomas decided to just be themselves. 

“It's become very, very valuable to me that my hair, the way that it is when it's seen, is accepted. So I don't change my hair when I go for an audition. The way that my hair was the day before is the way that it's going to be seen because that is who I am. That is, who you get on a self-tape, is me. The casting director and the producers must then use their own imagination and creativity to see what I would look like if I was in the role. My hair should not be a deterrent.”

While the conversation about Black hair on set (and the various politics that come with it) is nothing new, Thomas’s confidence in her own skin is powerful — and hopefully serves as a beacon of hope to other Black actors. “My hair is very, very Black, if we can put it that way. It's very kinky, it's very wooly. And I love it. But I also know that because of the texture, when I get on set, even though they want to embrace it, it may not be embraced in a way that allows its longevity.”

Despite the immense power that comes with their visibility as a Black non-binary actor on a global stage, Thomas insists that they don’t see themselves as a person with power. Instead, the actor does her best to dismantle power structures and democratize the industry in every way she can. 

“How do we ensure that everybody has their equal share of power? Not knowing who I am and how to define myself, it's so scary when you have the power to choose something. So I try and really, really evade any power. I'm very scared of it, but I'm so obsessed with taking someone else's power and giving it to another person. And I think I felt like I could do a lot of that on set. I think the way that people treat actors is, someone described it as [working with] baby kings: Don't touch anything. Let me put on your shoes for you. And just being able to say like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. I can put on my shoes myself,’ or, ‘Hey, what can I do to help you guys out?’ Just removing and sharing in the power, I think it makes me calm down a lot more.”

Thomas’s dual nature is expected of a Gemini — and yes, they most definitely identify with their two-sided astrological sign. “I do live up to my sign. I think I've become even more Gemini, and I do have birthday plans. I think I'm going to have just a barbecue with some friends in London, enjoy the sun, see some people from [Queen Charlotte], finally allow my worlds to blend…eat food, we'll dance to some good Black music.” 

A luxurious meal with TV royalty? We truly do love to see it. And what might we see next on the horizon for Arsema Thomas? More great roles to manifest, hopefully:

“I grew up watching Aida. I love that musical. It's a very similar character that I'm obsessed with, a woman who fights for her country,” she says about her dream roles. “I used to really want to play Hermione Granger, but it's unfortunate that the character is created by a TERF. I'm really excited about the new stories. I'm realizing how much of my childhood has been sullied in different ways by improper storytelling, by people who shouldn't have been telling my stories, telling my stories and thinking that I should be connecting to those characters rather than those characters connecting to me.”