Ruby Rose — America’s current girl crush — was virtually unknown outside of Australia when she arrived in the United States in 2014.
She changed that with the help of a perfect, gender-bending video.
The "Break Free" video is an autobiographical depiction of her struggles with gender identity. She wrote, produced, and starred in the video after growing tired of being cast aside for roles because of her nontraditional appearance. Rose didn't know, however, how big of an impact it would have.
"I put this video out that I really intended to be therapeutic for myself and was intended to be viewed by, you know, the hundred-or-so-thousand people that are on my Facebook," she told The Guardian back in 2014. "Instead its been viewed by 5 million people."
In the video, she transitions from female-presenting to male-presenting in five short minutes.
She cuts her hair short…
...scrubs off her makeup...
...and puts on traditionally-male clothing.
Voilà!
Rose told The Guardian she'd made a similar transition many times. Feeling unhappy with her gender as a teen, she would lower her voice and dress as a boy. She would start dressing feminine again, after being harassed by peers.
She began identifying as gender-neutral when she reached adulthood.
"For the most part, I definitely don't identify as any gender,” she told Elle. "I'm not a guy; I don't really feel like a woman, but obviously I was born one. So, I'm somewhere in the middle, which — in my perfect imagination — is like having the best of both sexes."
Rose produced the video back in 2014 — before she landed her breakout role as Stella Carlin on "Orange is the New Black," and before the nationwide hysteria over transgender rights. While Rose doesn't identify as transgender, she expressed support for those who do.
In fact, she told Access Hollywood she once considered gender transition surgery herself. She saved up money for the surgery as a kid, before she realized she could be comfortable in her own skin by just dressing and acting in a more masculine fashion.
"I really admire the people that [transition], and I think that they're amazing," she told The Guardian. "I just wish that there was more support for them."
Hopefully videos like Rose's can help make that a reality.