Soap Opera Digest: It’s hard to believe it has been five years since your soap debut on B&B.
Scott Turner Schofield: Absolutely! I remember when we talked back in 2015 and the precipice we were standing on then, and now we’re talking about that as Hollywood’s transgender tipping point. B&B was affirming for me as an artist and as a person, and I think it showed that people want authentic stories. They crave it and when they see it, they know it and they appreciate it.
Digest: Did your B&B gig open doors for you?
Schofield: Well, I have a starring role in a movie that’s not out in the U.S. yet, even though it has a worldwide theatrical release. It’s called The Conductor. The film was made in the Netherlands. It’s an English-language film made by a Dutch production company, and they found me when they saw me on B&B, so that was huge. Having a historical first like B&B is really important because people always mention you, so I always get brought up, and that’s keeping me in the conversation. I had 16 episodes, and we did some really powerful things. The storyline won an Emmy [for writing and directing], so being a part of something that big definitely put me on track. If you remember when we spoke last, I didn’t have an agent at the time. I had just rolled into town, and it was so beautiful. Usually, you have to be in L.A. for a while to get noticed and get roles like that, so the fact that I got that right out of the gate put me so much further ahead in the game.
Digest: How did your role as Max on STUDIO CITY come about?
Schofield: Sean [Kanan, creator/ ex-Deacon , B&B et al] and I met on set at B&B, and it was such a good-feeling place to be at that time. What was amazing to me was he kept in touch, and it kind of came out of nowhere. He said, “Hey, we want to do this,” and what I love about that is he’s paying attention to what the culture needs right now. He’s listening. Soaps do that really well. They’re written so fast, so a lot of things get pulled out of what’s most immediate, and he did that with a transgender storyline entwined with all the other plots going on in STUDIO CITY. I admire him so much for that, and I think that storyline is very much true to life.
Digest: On the show, your character has an impassioned monologue about living transgender. Tell us about that.
Schofield: Michele [Kanan, producer/writer] said to me, “We’ve got this monologue outlined for you, but we need you to put yourself into it. I don’t have your experience, so please bring your-self to this,” and that was really generous. So that’s what I was allowed to do. It’s a really vulnerable moment but I went for it.
Digest: Do you keep in touch with your former B&B scene partner Karla Mosley (Maya)?
Schofield: Oh, certainly. She has a wonderful family now. Her little girl [Aurora] is so cute! And, Karla and I both come from theater. I’ve watched her work with her theater company, and we’re always kicking around ideas. She was a socially conscious artist before anything happened with B&B, so we always keep talking about that and keep asking, “What could we do?” That’s a longtime relationship.
Digest: What were you up to, pre-pandemic?
Schofield: I’ve been working on taking my one-man show, Becoming A Man In 127 EASY Steps, and turning it into a one-man special. And, I work part-time for GLAAD [Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] now, as well. My B&B character, Nick, was named after Nick Adams, who is the director of transgender representation at GLAAD, and he helped with the B&B storyline so it would be authentic and done right, and in that process of meeting him, he asked if I wanted to help out and I said, “Of course!” So, that has been another amazingly positive experience.
Digest: Should B&B ask, would you come back and reprise Nick?
Schofield: One hundred percent! How could I ever say no to that? What’s so cool is that this isn’t going away. What B&B started wasn’t in a bubble, so if they ever bring me, or anyone, back in a transgender storyline, it’s because of what they helped start — and that is really cool.
