“How do I fit into this?” is one of the first questions Lea Robinson [pronounced “Lee”] asked themselves when their manager said they were submitting them for the new A League of Their Own reimagining. Reading the script, Robinson quickly realized Bertie Hart is “a role of a lifetime.” Bertie’s storyline in the second half of the season is part of the promise made by co-creator and star Abbi Jacobson that the show is “about queerness in a huge way.”
Amazon’s series reboot—an expansion, really—of Penny Marshall’s 1992 film, which premiered on the streamer earlier this month, has received deserved praise for its revelatory and nuanced portrayal of queer women, the players whose sexualities were never explored in the original movie. There’s an entire spectrum of queer experience depicted on the show, but perhaps the most surprising and progressive is that of Bertie, a Black, gender-nonconforming trans community leader who reveals an entire secret world of bliss lived by queer people of color behind closed doors.
Bertie was assigned female at birth and presents as transmasculine in this binary era, dressing in exquisite tailored suits. This was 1943. That’s monumental. As is Robinson’s casting itself.
Representation through casting matters, and Hollywood is slowly improving in casting trans actors in trans roles. Robinson is transgender, and identifies as non-binary gender nonconforming, it isn’t often that a part comes along that speaks so loudly. “I know Bertie; hell, to a certain extent, I am Bertie,” Robinson says. “It was this opportunity to give a voice to so many who came before me.”
(Warning: The spoilers of the first season of A League of Their Own ahead.)
The first season of A League of Their Own explores how not all women had the chance to try out for the newly formed All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Wildly talented pitcher Maxine “Max” Chapman (Chanté Adams) has to find an alternative route to achieve her dream of playing ball, as the league doesn’t allow Black players. An expectation of going into the family hair salon business is at odds with Max’s ambition, and she also struggles to picture a future with a husband by her side. A League of Their Own is not pulling a Beauty and the Beast-style “exclusively gay moment” bait and switch, as Max is one of several closeted characters exploring their sexual identity.
“Max is Bertie's niece, and there has been some time and space that's gone by without them being connected,” describes Robinson. “So the stakes are high with this reconnection.” Bertie’s estrangement from Max’s mother, Toni (Saidah Arrika Ekulona), is why Max has no living memory of her uncle. Finding her relative’s address is a turning point that opens Max’s eyes to a future that doesn’t have to stay in the shadows. Bertie lives with their long-term partner Gracie (Patrice Covington)—Bertie calls Gracie his wife—and this home is full of love.
When Robinson was offered the part—excuse the baseball puns—it was like hitting a home run. They were at their nine-to-five job “wrapping up this training, and then getting the call, being on the phone, and getting the offer… It was unbelievable.”
The Peaches and the Black citizens in Rockford overlap through Max and Carson’s (Jacobson) bond. They secretly meet up to practice and play catch, and talk with each other about what it means, at that time, to live an authentic life. In Episode 6, separate gatherings at an underground bar and Bertie’s home on the outskirts of town illustrate the size of the queer community; for many viewers, that’s a revelation, given this was an era when you could be thrown in jail for existing in a space like those. Even dressing in drag was an arrestable offense.
“We are looking at those stories that weren't told,” Robinson says. "I was happy that Bertie's character had the depth of being a Black, nonbinary, gender nonconforming person during this era,” Robinson explains. “All the challenges and different things that Bertie was navigating.”
Bertie has a complicated dynamic with their sister, but their life is far from miserable. “There were challenges and hardships,” says Robinson. “There was also a lot of joy.” Sure, they live by railroad tracks, and trains constantly wake them up in the middle of the night, but losing a bit of sleep is a compromise that’s “worth it to be able to create that part of your world.”
Seeing Bertie and Gracie flirting the morning after the party, or enjoying date night at the bowling alley, is a reminder of how this couple balances each other: “It was powerful to be able to show all these different things that Bertie was navigating: love and being an older, queer, trans, nonbinary person in someone else's life who's questioning.” Robinson would also love to explore Bertie and Toni’s past, which is touched on in the Season 1 finale when the question of safety arises.
“I can’t believe you let him come out here looking like this,” Max says to Gracie at the bowling alley about Bertie’s tailored masculine attire in Episode 6. “Isn’t it dangerous?” Robinson talked with the writers about the reality of living authentically in a hostile environment, and was encouraged to “bring my full self, and my full range of experiences to the role, and something that continued to strike me about our conversations was this idea of yes, there are challenges.”
The backstory Robinson created is that Bertie and Gracie had conversations about how to live safely: "This is who we are. Let's be proud, let's step out, and take care of each other.” Robinson always returned to “this idea of joy, and whatever that means. Whether that means walking in your own skin and being and surviving one day. Stepping outside, doing what you need to do, and surviving coming home.”
During the prickly conversation with Toni, Bertie explains that living an inauthentic life doesn’t offer protection. “For some of us, safe isn’t safe,” Bertie tells their sister about why they had to leave all those years ago. Robinson connected with “thinking about what it means to be safe, to seek shelter, and what it means to seek your chosen fam.”
Robinson considered the broader historical context: “How does it feel to be Bertie during this period? What is safe? What isn't safe? What might my trans women of color siblings be experiencing?” This helped keep their intention as to who Bertie is and “how we speak about being advocates and safety.”
The episode “Stealing Home” showcases how embracing new scenarios can offer a life-changing experience. On one side of town, several of the Peaches are enjoying a night out at an underground gay bar; on the other, Max is attending her first soirée at Bertie’s home.
“This beautiful party of everyone being who they are and stepping into their beauty, whether it's with their clothing, their mannerisms, or their conversations” is a moment that sent Robinson back to their first queer party. “Stepping into that, I was like, 'Oh my goodness! These are my people! I have found some people, and I never knew they were here,'” Robinson recalls.
It was one of the longest shooting days, but it was powerful for Robinson to imagine the LGBT haven Bertie and Gracie have created in this small pocket of Illinois. “Black and brown people who are on the spectrum of being queer, and they're right here,” Robinson describes. “You may not see them during the day or in other spaces because we had to move in certain ways. You have this party where everyone's bringing their full selves, and it's beautiful.”
The episode and cuts between the intimate dancing at both venues before an almighty banging alerts bar owner Vi (Rosie O’Donnell) that the police are raiding the joint. "I cried on that scene, too,” Robinson says after I mention the gut punch I felt when this sequence full of love is shattered in an instant.
Greta (D’Arcy Carden) and Carson dash into the movie theater next door (that is playing The Wizard of Oz) to evade arrest simply for living their lives. “Talk about safety, feeling like you're in this bubble of safety, and all of a sudden you're not, and how it ends up, what it looks like for all of us,” Robinson says about the reality of this moment.
Clothing is one way Bertie navigates this world, and they tell Max at the bowling alley, “It’s all about the suit. You fit the suit, you cut it right, it commands respect, and I know how to cut it right.”
Everything from the tailored suits down to the handkerchiefs, socks, robe, and even Bertie’s slippers are meticulously considered to connect to the overall vision. This includes the foundational garments “suitable for that era” and speaks to the discussions in the fitting room with costume designer Trayce Gigi Field. “There were conversations—and I talk about this around collaboration—about binding. As a trans, nonbinary person, that's a part of my life. That's a part of my identity when I leave my house.” Robinson explains. “What am I wearing and what parts of my outfit speak to and support who I am in the world? We even talked about that.”
The gift of a suit is a moment of rupture and repair between Bertie and Max as they explore this new relationship. “I want Max to wear the suit the way I meant for it to be worn, but I'm so proud of Max for being an individual because we've all been there,” Robinson notes about Max putting her personal sartorial spin on the exquisite garment. “Bertie can make a choice. Either be hung up on a suit or be proud of Max for standing in their power.”
Rather than push their niece in a direction that goes against who they are, Bertie understands telling someone how to dress is not conducive to a strong relationship. When Max asks her uncle to cut her hair earlier, it indicates far more than getting a new shorter ’do. Robinson describes this intimate act as “welcoming Max into my life, my life with Gracie and the community.”
When Robinson talks about their family, it is clear they have traversed highs and lows. “My folks weren't super on board with me being gay in the beginning,” they explain. “I've had a lot of conversations with them about that. They were worried and nervous about my safety, and it was hard.”
A turning point came when Robinson moved closer to home, “My mom was like, 'Listen, look, this is our child, and we love you, and we accept you for everything.” Now, Robinson’s parents go to Pride events. When they came out as trans-identified, Robinson’s mother asked, “‘What are your pronouns?’ We had conversations about that, and they said, ‘We love you, we just gained a son.’”
Keep obsessing! Sign up for the Daily Beast’s Obsessed newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
