'Billions' Star Tells Ellen What It Means To Identify As Gender Non-Binary

Asia Kate Dillon is making history as the first gender non-binary character on a mainstream television show, Showtime’s “Billions .” The star, who also identifies as gender non-binary in real life, doesn’t mind answering questions about what that means. 

Dillon, who uses the singular pronoun “they” for identification, spoke candidly about their path to discovering their gender identity in an interview on “Ellen ” Monday. “Sex and identity are different. ‘Female’ is a sex, and sex is between our legs, and gender identity is between our ears,” they told the host. 

The star, who hails from Ithaca, New York, said they “felt ambiguous” about their gender identity from a young age, shortly after seeing the 1968 movie musical, “Oliver! ” 

“I can remember, actually, seeing the film ‘Oliver!’ and understanding so badly that I wanted to play that part,” Dillon said, “but that I would never be able to because I was a ‘girl’ and Oliver was a ‘boy.’”

These days, they don’t mind when they are accidentally misgendered by others. “If someone says ‘she’ or ‘he,’ and it’s unintentional, I can tell if it’s coming from a place of love,” they said. “It’s only when someone misgenders me on purpose that it becomes hurtful.” 

Asia Kate Dillon’s full “Ellen ” interview airs Monday. 

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ entertainment with the Queer Voices newsletter .