How Fan Headcanon Turned Fern Mayo Trans in the Jawbreaker Musical

The camp appeal of Jawbreaker, an iconic entry in the 1990s queer canon, has given it a permanent home among LGBTQ+ cinephiles. But a recent addition to its musical adaptation has made the film’s queer subtext even more visible. Fern Mayo/ Vylette, who was played by Judy Greer in the original film, will be transgender in the upcoming stage adaptation, according to Deadline, and will be played by nonbinary actor AJ Paramo. Following the announcement, writer Darren Stein shared the story of how he came to change his vision for Mayo.In a Thursday post on Instagram, Stein wrote that he was first alerted to the trans subtext of his own character when trans actress Eve Lindley DMed him to say that “Fern Mayo’s story has always felt so parallel to the trans story.” “‘Starting out so different, conforming, being exposed...it was always really, really powerful.’ Not being trans myself but always feeling on the gender spectrum, her message was an instant revelation for how to update Fern’s character in the musical,” Stein wrote. “So thank you Eve, for inspiring such a meaningful update to this story.” See on Instagram The original film follows a popular clique, the Flawless Four, who must cover up the accidental death of their friend when she is killed by a jawbreaker candy during a prank. Fern Mayo witnesses the crime and agrees to help cover up the crime when the girls offer to make her over into the popular Vylette. “I’ve definitely felt a connection to the character of Fern and how she sort of became the greatest version of herself,” said choreographer Jay Jackson, who is better known as RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Laganja Estranja, told Deadline. “So, it’s so cool to see a narrative that I think so many of us trans people identified with actually become what we saw it as.”Paramo said that the journey to getting cast began with a DM from Stein. “For him to take time to send me that DM and express the feeling and the subtext that lived with