Back in 2021, activist, presenter and writer Paris Lees published her memoir What It Feels Like For A Girl, which told the story of her journey through sex work, queer Noughties hedonism and finding her queer chosen family as she navigated her identity as a trans woman, growing up as a young boy in Nottingham.
Now, she has adapted her book into a BBC TV series, with a cast she has described as having “struck gold” to find. “This is a proudly working-class story, and it needed a cast who could bring it to life authentically," she has said. "We’ve struck gold with these highly talented actors, some of whom are already familiar faces – and some who are about to be.”
The show's stars Ellis Howard – who plays Paris' character Byron – Laquarn Lewis, Hannah Jones and Jake Dunn all play an integral part in bringing the story to life, which explores Noughties era toxic masculinity, lad culture and rave scene, as well as social class, homophobia, transphobia and coming to terms with who you are and where you want to be in life.
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It's a gorgeous and important show – just in time for Pride month 2025. And not a moment too soon, in light of the Supreme Court's ruling to exclude transgender women from the definition of ‘woman’ under the Equality Act 2010.
Ellis, Hannah, Laquarn and Jake sat down with Glamour to talk about why this TV series, queer joy and resilience is more important than ever.
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Glamour: What were your first impressions of each other?
Ellis: My first impression of Hannah Jones, she came into this chemistry read and she was like “I know you”, I was like “have we met before?!” It terrified me. She was asked to take her heels off, she had these ten-inch platforms on. And she went, "Oh, I'm about to fall from grace here."
Hannah: Oh, did I?
Ellis: Yeah, you don't remember? I was like, “Who is this?” I was terrified that you knew me, I said “I don’t think we’ve met before” and you were like “WE HAVE”. And then it was love at first sight, but I was totally out of my depth and terrified because Laquarn was in this mesh piece that was a suggestion of clothes…
Laquarn: Hey, that was crazy, I actually took a late-night trip to Ann Summers to get that for the audition. Don't come for it, girl.
Ellis: That was so fierce… A really outrageous, unapologetic entrance into the divas.
Jake: I've known Laquarn for years and years, probably a decade. [To Laquarn] Why did you roll your eyes at that? What’s wrong with knowing us?
Laquarn: You escape Nottingham, and you just have to skip some of the Nottingham people.
Jake: Wow! What It Feels Like For A Girl!
Laquarn: She's stuck with me. No, I love Jakey. I've known Jake for a really long time, but then we distanced, didn't we? Yeah, just naturally. And then, we just found out we were both working on this job.
Jake: Because I found out at the readthrough, I literally saw you and was like, “Lady Di?”
Laquarn: And I was like, "Liam!”
Jake: You were like, "Liam? Are you sure?"
Laquarn: And I was like, "Wow!". And then I saw the scenes, and it was like, "Oh, that makes sense". Bossed it! Bossed it!
Hannah: I met Laquarn, I was just like, "You're insane!". I don't get scared by anyone and when I met Laquarn I was like, "You're so beautiful and powerful I don't know what to do with you."
Laquarn: Hannah walked into the room and I was literally just sat there with Nathan the casting director… We were having a chat and Hannah just walked in and I was like, "Oh. My. Gosh". I had never seen somebody so strikingly beautiful and huge-
Hannah: Huge?!
Laquarn: No, no, not width…
I'd never met somebody just so eye-catching. Honestly, I was like, "Who is this diva?", and that diva's Hannah. Then El walked into the room very timidly, but very warmly.
GLAMOUR: Ellis, what was it like having Paris on set, did you guys bond? How did it feel telling her story?
Ellis: It felt like actually a real massive weight off my shoulders. I felt like, "Oh, I have a North Star here. As long as she is happy, then I am happy."
The first two weeks were spent filming our scenes with just Jake and me. And I was like “God I hope she’s happy, I hope she’s OK.”
I came to Paris at the monitor and she was crying and she said, ‘I think you finally captured me. It was exactly how I want you to do it Ellis.’ I thought, ‘Oh, thank God.’ I feel like I could just breathe easier, that maybe I've found her.
Obviously, all you want to do as an actor is capture someone's nuance and complexity, and you want to do that with respect.
GLAMOUR: In light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, what does being part of Paris’ story and bringing it to the screen mean to you? What do you all hope it does in terms of representing and reaching the trans community?
Hannah: When we were filming it we knew it was important. As a person who has experience, I know how important it is to tell these stories and for people to hear these stories. The true part of it, not just the glamourisation of a trans woman doing Vogue. The nitty-gritty of what it is like to be a real working-class trans person… The fact that our mere existence is being debated is truly insane because we are here, we have been here, we will be here.
Hopefully, the show brings a humanity to trans people that people don't see in the media. In a lot of media, we see trans people as "the trans character". What I love about this show is that Sasha, Byron, and Di [Laquarn's character] are just characters that just so happen to be trans. It's not their main storyline, it's not their through-line, and it's not their be-all end-all. I think that's really important.
Ellis: I think we all feel lucky as queer people to be ... this is the first time a trans person has written their own show for the BBC. I feel like we were, just each day, pinching ourselves like, ‘Oh my God, how lucky are we to be a part of this thing which is so unflinching, so unrestrained, so complex, so triumphant, and traumatic?’
I echo what Hannah is saying. This is technically a period piece, within the Y2K. To understand that trans people have been here for millennia and will continue to be after this precarious political moment is passed.
I just hope for queer people at whatever age, at this moment, if I could wish anything, it would be that the show can provide community, can provide light, and can softly rustle open a door that feels closed right now. One of the things for me, as a queer lad being in this, I felt like I had a renaissance during my time of filming because I felt more seen than I've ever felt in my entire life. I really hope that this show does that for other people.
GLAMOUR: The series really zones in on toxic masculinity and lad culture in the Noughties – do you think we’ve moved on from that enough?
Hannah: Protect the dolls! Everyone loves the dolls… Get to know. People who aren't showing love for the dolls, we see you, and the people who are showing love for the dolls, but not talking about it, we also see you.
Ellis: And what needs to happen? I don't know, I'm not a socio-political expert… The nature of everything is built on toxic masculinity. We live in a patriarchal society. We’ve just had the incredible [Netflix series] Adolescence start this dialogue.
We’ve got Trump in office, we have these incredibly domineering right-wing voices. I think all of us are tied to a canon that is built from, everyone from Marsha P. Johnson to Jonathan Harvey to Russell T Davies to the folks in Paris Is Burning. That we can just add to dialogue that already exists, we can stand on the shoulders of those people and humanise trans stories, but also just queer stories.
I think what this show does incredibly well is it looks at the complications – we see it through Laura Haddock playing my mum or [Adolescence star Hannah Walters] playing my nan. I think the show really does teach us how to love each other and how to sit in what are, often, really difficult and precarious places, and to show up and stay there.
If anything, the show says to you – which is always a great point wherever you are in history – dare to live out loud, dare to live authentically, and that that can feel unsafe especially right now, but often there is community willing to catch you. Maybe that community isn't your own family, but you can find your own family.
Highlights from when the What It Feels Like For A Girl cast took GLAMOUR's Friendship Test…
GLAMOUR: Who is the funniest?
Ellis: I'm going to give it to Han.
Hannah: Thank you!
Ellis: I think Hannah really makes me laugh and has an incredible cultural index that she can draw from…
Jake: The brain rot is so real.
Laquarn: It's so bad.
Ellis: Because she doesn't read books, she just spends her life on TikTok. There's a certain gorgeousness that comes with lobotomy… To be in your presence is just funny… You have a real warmth in your humour as well, which I think is really lovely… Because some funny people can be exhausting, but not you.
Hannah: I also think I'm the funniest.
Jake: No one's gonna say me?
Ellis: You know what you are, though, which is underrated? You're a good audience member, girl. I don't think that's to be knocked, you know? We need a voyeur.
GLAMOUR: Who is most likely to leave someone on read?
Hannah and Ellis: [Pointing at Jake] You!
Hannah: 100% you, you do that all the time.
Ellis: I bet you get a text and you start sweating and pacing. You go, "What do I do, what do I say?" It's like 24 in your bedroom, it's like there's a bomb defusal. It's like, "Hey Jake, how are you?", and you're like, "What the f**k? What do you want from me?!".
Jake: It's not even like I'm a better... I'm not a call-me person either, I'm just like, "Don't talk to me."
Ellis: You are a bit of a whore for FaceTime.
Jake: I’m more up for a 48-minute FaceTime.
Hannah: I think you're not a consistent texter, but you will put the effort in for a FaceTime.
Jake: Yeah, there's nothing, nothing, nothing and then it's like a big FaceTime.
Laquarn: My phone is always on Do Not Disturb.
Jake: Wow. I can’t do that, I have to see the text and then ignore it.
Laquarn: You’re wicked!
GLAMOUR: Who had the best lines?
Jake: I had one-word lines. I’m very grunty in this.
Laquarn: I like your public transport one.
Ellis: “Do you drive? I’m terrified of public transport”
Jake: I always thought ‘I can’t do this, I’m on a comedown in f**king Leicester’ was incredible.
Hannah: “What are you looking at, bitch?” That was improv.
GLAMOUR: There were so many sassy one-liners between Byron and Sasha that I couldn't keep up with it.
Ellis: Most of them aren't even written; if we're honest, they're just us coming for each other.
GLAMOUR: Who is the most likely to fall for a bad boy?
Laquarn: I will vote myself.
Ellis: The call is coming from inside the house…
Hannah: I'm a close second to Laquarn, I think. I think I have liked a bad boy, or I think I'm out of that phase of life now, but I could. El?
Ellis: I need a good boy who is on the property ladder. In this economy, I need to save, girl… I'm not trying to do anything but survive… Okay, I’m not here for any theatrics. What's the salary? Who are you voting for politically?
Jake: We definitely had that where we saw Liam's flat for the first time; all the mess on the floor. We were all like, "We've been here, we know this.”
Hannah: Very intimately.
GLAMOUR: The man who’s a walking red flag?
Hannah: Yeah, we love a red flag over here.
Laquarn: Well, we don’t, but we can put up with them for a while.
What It Feels Like For A Girl is available now. All episodes are on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Tuesday 3 June, and airing on BBC Three and BBC One from that night.
