Jessica Lange responds to Caitlyn Jenner comparisons
Jessica Lange was unwittingly thrust into the spotlight Monday as comparisons of her to Caitlyn Jenner abounded on Twitter following the debut of her Vanity Fair cover.
The similarities between Jenner, 65, and the "American Horror Story" actress, 66, had been spotted by some earlier on in Jenner's transition, but as of Monday many were tweeting about their resemblance.
The Daily Beast, speaking to Lange that day for an unrelated story, informed the actress that she was trending on Twitter because people were comparing her and Jenner.
"Oh, really?" she said. "That's so wonderful. Well, now I'm going to have to look for that picture."
But writer Kevin Fallon still had to explain to Lange exactly what "trending on Twitter" means.
"Trending on Twitter because Caitlyn Jenner is on the cover -- you see I don't do any of this stuff, the Internet," she said. "So I have no clue when people use this terminology. I have to repeat it to understand."
Lange has long been an advocate for tolerance of transgender individuals. In 2005 she had starred in the HBO movie "Normal" as Irma, who finds out her husband, Roy, is transgender. Lange had said in an HBO interview that diversity is what the world is all about and it has to be accepted:
"The need in this world is for compassion, understanding and tolerance. Tolerance, I mean, probably above all," said Lange at that time. "Allow the diversity to exist. There is nothing wrong with it. Hell, we put up with the religious right -- we can put up with transgendered human beings."