Hunter Schafer
made headlines as an activist before she began acting professionally, but she is rapidly establishing herself as an impressive performer with critically acclaimed movies and tv shows. Schafer has been someone willing to campaign for social justice and the causes she believes in. Her work against discriminatory bathroom laws in North Carolina even saw her honored by Teen Vogue and interviewed by Hilary Clinton.

While working to make the world a more inclusive place, Schafer also worked to get a foot in the door in the entertainment industry. She started modeling before breaking into acting through a role on the HBO series Euphoria. Since that breakthrough role, Schafer has been steadily working in Hollywood, including on high-profile franchises like The Hunger Games.

5

Kinds of Kindness (2024)

As Anna

Kinds of Kindness is a fascinating work from Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou. The duo have teamed up multiple times before, and this time around, they provide audiences with a “triptych fable.” The movie is made of three stories which are actually connected, but the main actors in each chapter play multiple roles across the stories. Those actors include frequent Lanthimos collaborator Emma Stone, Jesse Plemmons, and Margaret Qualley.

Hunter Schafer, on the other hand, only appears in one of the three stories. She also appears in a role that is little more than a cameo appearance. While her appearance is a fun one as she is essentially auditioning to be someone who can bring the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ back to life, this movie might rank higher among her projects if she had a larger role that allowed her to more thoroughly explore the character.

4

Belle (2022)

As Ruka Watanabe

Many movies made in one country are dubbed into another language to be distributed in another. Japanese movies, especially animated projects, tend to be dubbed into English because they are particularly popular in English-speaking countries. That is the case for Belle.

Belle is тιтled The Dragon and the Freckled Princess in its Japanese translation. The movie adapts the story of Beauty and the Beast, drawing inspiration from the French story and the Disney version of the tale. A young woman still grieving the loss of her mother takes refuge in a virtual reality where she can sing and sees her online popularity increase as “Belle.” She bonds with a user called the “Dragon” who is fiercely protective of others and draws the ire of some online bullies. The young woman takes it upon herself to find his idenтιтy and help him.

Schafer does not voice one of those two characters in the virtual world, but instead, one of the real-life friends of the young woman who finds refuge there. Ruka is one of the most popular girls in school and one of the few friends the main character has. Ruka is one of the characters who help find the real location of the Dragon. Schafer does a fantastic job at bringing the character to life, especially since this is her first voice role.

3

Euphoria (2019-)

As Jules Vaughn

Schafer got her big break thanks to the controversial teen drama Euphoria. The HBO series is dark and gritty and does not quite fit in with soapier teen offerings on other networks.

Euphoria centers on Rue (Zendaya), an addict trying her best to get through each day. The rest of the characters that populate the series are her friends, her classmates, her love interests, her dealer, and her family members. The world all spins out from Rue.

Schafer plays Jules, a transgender teenage girl who is relatively new in town. She and Rue become friends, then on-again-off-again girlfriends in the series. Jules is able to explore her Sєxuality because of her relationship with Rue, but the series also addresses themes of idenтιтy through her character.

Schafer’s work on the series does not end in acting though. She also co-wrote an episode centered on her character in therapy in which Jules discusses womanhood. While Schafer’s work in the series has been groundbreaking and has likely helped to open doors for other aspiring actors who happen to be transgender, Schafer has spoken at length about hoping to be cast in the future simply as “a girl” after being offered “tons of trans roles” (via GQ).

2

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes (2023)

As Tigris Snow

One of the most anticipated movies of 2023 was an installment of the Hunger Games franchise. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was a prequel to the original story featuring Katniss Everdeen. This time around, the focus is on the man who would become President Snow as a teenager and the tribute he has to mentor. The movie chronicles just how Coriolanus Snow begins his arc to become the villain of the franchise.

Schafer stars as the cousin of Coriolanus Snow. She helps to take care of him when they are kids, and in turn, they take care of the grandmother who raised them after the deaths of their parents. Tigris Snow is glamorous despite the fact that the Snow family is living in the ruins of what was once their family estate. She is always surrounded by sketches of clothing and finding the beauty in the world around her despite the ugliness of the society they live in.

Schafer is perfect for this role. There’s something elegant, even regal, in the way she carries herself as Tigris. Even though she is not the focus of the movie, her work makes the fans interested in seeing what happens to her next.

1

Cuckoo (2024)

As Gretchen

Though she voiced a grieving character in 2022, here, she plays a character grappling with grief in live-action. She also does it in a horror movie, something Schafer had not yet done at this point in her career.

Cuckoo sees a teenager (Schafer) move in with her father in Germany after the loss of her mother. Her father’s boss offers her a job at the new H๏τel they are working on as a receptionist. While there, she starts to notice strange occurrences at the H๏τel, especially concerning the female guests, and she teams up with a local detective to find out just what is going on.

Cuckoo received mostly positive reviews from critics, being called “an energetically outlandish fusion of stylish atmospherics, old-school reproductive horror and pro-flickknife advertorial” by Variety. In particular, the performances of both Dan Stevens and Hunter Schafer were praised. Schafer proves herself capable of being the lead instead of a supporting player here as she commands every single scene she is. The emotional weight of the movie is well on her.

Cuckoo makes it clear that Hunter Schafer is going to be a star.