Hunter Schafer (born December 31, 1998) is an American actress and model. She made her acting debut as transgender high school student Jules Vaughn in the HBO teen drama television series Euphoria (2019–present).^[2] In 2023, she portrayed Tigris Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Schafer was born on December 31, 1998, in Trenton, New Jersey,^[3][4] to parents Katy and Mac Schafer. Her father is a Presbyterian minister, and their family moved between churches and congregations in New Jersey, Arizona, and finally Raleigh, North Carolina.^[5][6] She has three younger siblings: two sisters and a brother.^[7]

Schafer has said she started expressing femininity as a toddler. In seventh grade, Schafer came out to her parents as a gay boy, but started experiencing gender dysphoria in eighth grade, and transitioned as a trans girl in ninth grade after being diagnosed with dysphoria.^[8][9][10] She stated that the Internet helped her cope with her gender identity, as she turned to YouTube and social media to learn about people's transition timelines.^[8] In high school, she contributed comic art to the online magazine Rookie.^[11]

In 2016, Schafer became the youngest name listed as a plaintiff on the ACLU's lawsuit, Carcaño v. McCrory, against North Carolina's bill HB2, which prevented trans people from using the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity. The lawsuit led to the bill's repeal.^[10][12] For her activism, including her activism against HB2, Teen Vogue listed Schafer on its "21 Under 21" list in 2017, and granted her an interview with Hillary Clinton.^[13][14]

In 2017, Schafer became a semifinalist in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.^[15] She graduated from the High School Visual Arts program at the North Carolina School of the Arts after transferring there from Needham B. Broughton High School.^[16] She started modeling shortly after high school.^[17] Schafer planned to attend Central Saint Martins, an arts college in London, England, but deferred her enrollment to focus on her career, when she received an audition for the HBO series Euphoria. Schafer joined the show after finding a casting call for transgender girls on Instagram, which required no previous acting experience. A few days later, her modeling agency told her she received the audition.^[11][18]

Schafer has modeled for Prada, Dior, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Rick Owens, Helmut Lang, Tommy Hilfiger, Thierry Mugler, Coach, Maison Margiela, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Versus Versace, Emilio Pucci, Ann Demeulemeester, and Erdem, among other fashion houses.^{[19][20][21][22]} In 2022, she became the global brand ambassador for Shiseido Makeup,^[23] and in 2023 became the new face of Mugler's Angel perfume.^[17]

In 2019, Schafer was cast in Euphoria as a transgender high school girl, Jules Vaughn, marking her acting debut.^[11][24] For the role, she received a Shorty Award, an MTV Movie & TV Award, and a Dorian Award.^[25][26][27] She was named among transgender actors not nominated at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards.^[28] Aside from her leading role in the series, she also co-wrote an episode with the show's creator Sam Levinson and served as co-executive producer. Additionally, she collaborated with him so that her character and the show's story reflected her experience.^[8][29]

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named Schafer among the 50 heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".^[30][31] In 2021, Time named her to its Next list of "100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future", with a tribute written by Euphoria co-star Zendaya.^[32]

In 2022, Schafer starred in the English dub of the Japanese animated film Belle.^[33] She made her directorial debut^[34] when making the music video for Girl in Red's song Hornylovesickmess,^[35] and also made the video for Anohni and the Johnsons' song Why Am I Alive Now?.^[36] She starred in the 2023 The Hunger Games prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,^[37] for which her performance was praised.^[38][39][40] In 2022, she filmed her role in Tilman Singer's horror movie Cuckoo,^[41] which is set to release in May 2024.^[42] She also has upcoming roles in Yorgos Lanthimos' anthology film Kinds of Kindness,^[43][44] David Lowery's film Mother Mary,^[45] and Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele's horror video game, OD.^[46]

In a 2024 interview with GQ magazine, Schafer said that her transness had become the centerpiece of her career and gotten her offered "tons of trans roles". Whenever she mentioned transness in interviews, it "gets blastoff" in the media. She would like to decenter from talking about it all the time, however. Having passed the most difficult points of her gender transition, she just wants to be a girl and move on.^[47]

Schafer has stated, "I do like people to know that I'm not a cis girl because that's not something that I am or feel like I am. I'm proud to be a trans person."^[9] In 2019, Schafer said that she was "closer to what you might call a lesbian."^[48] In December 2021, she stated on Twitter that her sexuality is "bi or pan or something".^[49] She was in a brief relationship with Spanish singer Rosalía for about five months in 2019, which she confirmed after speculation in her cover story with GQ in April 2024. They remained close friends and Schafer considers Rosalía to be "family no matter what."^[50] Schafer dated her Euphoria co-star Dominic Fike from February 2022 to c. July 2023.^[51][52]

In August 2022, Schafer liked and commented "!!!!!" on an Instagram post that blamed non-binary people who "fought to have trans identities no longer considered a medical condition that requires dysphoria" for negative social attitudes and legislation targeting the trans community. This prompted backlash from queer and trans fans, with many accusing Schafer of endorsing transmedicalism.^[53][54] Commenting on a later Instagram post, Schafer denied being a transmedicalist or holding hatred towards non-binary people, saying that she merely felt there was "an in-balance [sic] in the visibility and space-taken up between non-binary folks and binary trans women (particularly those of color and/or those who have resulted [sic] to sex work as a means of survival) that i think deserves attention/ re-evaluation (as far as resources and platforms go) within the LGBTQ+ community".^[55]

On February 27, 2024, Schafer was arrested in New York City while at a Jewish Voice for Peace protest advocating for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war.^[56][57][58]