Trans Actress Kiwebaby, Who Starred In Mark Lee’s Number 1, Won’t Undergo Gender Confirmation Surgery ’Cos It’s Not “The Only Way To Find True Love”

Taiwanese star Kiwebaby Zhang, 29, is one of the few celebs in Asia to come out as trans. Though she's a hugely popular social media personality ─ she has almost 100K followers on Instagram ─ her path to becoming an actress hasn't been all that smooth-sailing.

It's why she was very suspicious when she was approached to audition for Singapore movie Number 1 (a.k.a the film for which Mark Lee was nominated for a Golden Horse Best Actor award.).

“I thought it was a scam,” Kiwebaby told Taiwanese media. “I only realised they were serious when I saw the poster for (hit movie) More than Blue in the company where I had my audition, and I knew that it was a legitimate offer.”

Kiwebaby's performance in Number 1 was critically lauded and even earned her praise from Oscar-winning Taiwanese director Lee Ang, who told her, “You’re the one who acted as Pearly in Number 1, right? You were outstanding and very charming!”

However, Kiwebaby recently let on that even after the success of Number 1, acting offers are still few and far between, adding: “Perhaps the number of roles that I’m suitable for are limited because I’m trans.”

Most of her current income stems from selling products on live broadcasts, but she’s also writing a book as well as a movie that's based on her life.

Kiwebaby, who had breast augmentation surgery in 2015, was also asked if she would undergo gender confirmation surgery, to which she said: “I’ve never hated my body even when [I knew that] I was a girl inside. Perhaps I felt that being a woman was too tough in my past life, so I wanted to be born a man in this life so that I’d be able to depend only on myself.”

As for why she’s adamant about not having gender confirmation surgery, Kiwebaby said: “I have female friends who want to be men in their next lives as they think that being a woman is too tiring. After listening to their stories, I realised that gender confirmation surgery doesn’t guarantee me a happy relationship, and neither is it the only way to find true love.

Even if I did go for the surgery, breaking up with my boyfriend is still a possibility. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with going for it if you hate your body, but I’ve never hated mine. I don’t want to be changed by what the world [wants me to do] (…) I don’t have to change myself for men.”

Photos: HK01, Kiwebaby's Instagram