Los Angeles July 14 (IANS) Actress Scarlett Johansson who has been criticised for playing a transgender in "Rub & Tug" has backed out of the film.
The 33-year-old was doing the Rupert Sanders-directed mob drama in which she was to portray Dante "Tex" Gill a transgender man who owns a Pittsburgh massage parlour. But has now decided to quit the role reports etonline.com.
"In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project. Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance and I ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive " Johansson said in a statement to out.com.
"While I would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante s story and transition to life I understand why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person and I am thankful that this casting debate albeit controversial has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film."
Earlier Johansson was criticized for playing an originally Asian animated character The Major in the live-action adaptation of "Ghost in the Shell". It was also directed by Sanders.

--IANS smriti/nn/vm