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Emma Corrin is opening up about how the public grapples with their identity.

In the time since The Crown star first came out publicly as queer in 2021, and then changed their pronouns on Instagram to they/them the following summer, the public response has not always been positive.

"The vitriol is worse than I anticipated," Emma admitted to Harper's Bazaar in an interview published May 22. "Even though we like to think we're in a progressive society, a lot of what we're seeing is increasingly a step back."

What they've discovered is fans enjoy playing make-believe. "People follow me because they've watched something I'm in," Emma continued. "They think I'm one kind of person, and then they'll see who I actually am and how I present and—I will never understand why. Who are you hurting by being yourself? Why am I controversial?"

But the actor—who has worked on projects such as Lady Chatterly's Lover and My Policeman in addition to her portrayal of Princess Diana—hypothesized, "I think it's fear. Absolute fear."

And yet, among the difficulties, are also extremely gratifying moments, such as a fan's response to Emma's portrayal of Orlando in Virginia Woolf's gender-bending novel of the same name. 

"I remember this older man was waiting for me," they recalled. "His grandchild had come out as trans, and he was trying to understand it. Seeing Orlando shifted his whole perspective; he couldn't thank me enough. It was wild. It was beautiful."

Because for the 28-year-old, simply existing in an industry—one in which people of similar identities to theirs are not often given center stage—can be radical.

"It feels impossible to know where to start to enact the change that needs to be done," Emma mused. "But by taking up space, by being visible, that's something in itself. I'm a tiny cog at the moment."

When Emma—who is currently dating fellow actor Rami Malek—first shared they were nonbinary, they opened up about what their road to self-discovery had been like up to that point, and why they'd chosen to speak out. 

"My journey has been a long one and has still got a long way to go," they reflected to ITV News Granada host Victoria Grimes in Aug. 2021. "I think we are so used to defining ourselves. That's the way society works within these binaries and it's taken me a long time to realize that I exist somewhere in between and I'm still not sure where that is yet."

Emma continued, "When I started posting about it, it felt very scary and revealing and I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. But the feeling I've got from other people in the queer community has been wonderful."

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