Michael D. Cohen on Sharing His Trans Experience and Creating Opportunities

Michael D. Cohen may be best known for his role as Schwoz Schwartz in the Nickelodeon series Henry Danger, which he currently reprises in the hit spinoff Danger Force, but outside of his work on the small screen, he is a passionate trans experience advocate.

In 2019, the actor collaborated with GLAAD on a piece for Time Magazine, where he openly discusses his identity. Cohen admits that he felt he was assigned the wrong gender at birth and decided to embrace his male identity and align with his core being and essence.

Naturally, he was worried that this trans experience may hinder his career ambitions, but fortunately, that did not seem to be the case.

Cohen has partnered with Nickelodeon for the Michael D. Cohen Trans Youth Acting Challenge, which gave transgender and nonbinary kids an opportunity to showcase their acting talent and audition for the network’s casting team, and he has showcased his talent behind the camera by directing five episodes of Danger Force, including “Manlee Men,” which he co-wrote. The episode received a GLAAD Media Award nomination in the “Outstanding Kids & Family Programming” category.

OFM caught up with Cohen to talk more about his career and advocacy, embracing his truth, and creating opportunities for young actors and writers of the trans experience.

Michael, let me begin by asking, how have you been celebrating Pride this year?

Gosh, I’ve been doing a lot of these kinds of interviews, which I love, and I’ve been going to some events. I also have a short film that I’m in that’s in some of the festivals, so it’s been a fun time.

What does Pride mean to you?

Wow, that’s such a good question. I’ve never been asked that. I think it’s being out in the world authentically. Pride, by definition, is the opposite of shame, and it’s just about knowing where you came from, knowing who you are on an authentic basis, and being willing and excited to stand in that.

You are best-known for your role as Schwoz Schwartz in the Nickelodeon series Henry Danger, and now its spinoff, Danger Force. What have you enjoyed the most about playing this character after all these years?

I really like doing the accent (laughs). But seriously, the writers are so good. People sometimes poopoo on kids’ TV, but this is not normal kids’ TV. I wouldn’t have been able to hang in there this long if the writing wasn’t as good as it is. I mean, it is so good, and it’s for adults. There’s a lot of stuff in there that are references only adults would get, so I enjoy that. I enjoy just being able to play off the writing.

Have you always had a passion and desire to pursue acting?

Oh, yes. When I was young, I was watching TV with my family, and the one thing that we all united around was The Carol Burnett Show. That was very formative for me, and I saw myself reflected back in that show on some level. Like, that’s who I am; that’s what I want to do; that’s what I do. It was so definitive for me. At a young age, I’m like, yeah, that’s me.

What do you always hope audiences take away from your work and performances?

Laughter, insight, or both. I also teach, and I can’t imagine just doing one or the other. I have to do both. With teaching, I want to inspire and help people transform, and it’s the same in my acting. I’m hoping that will also somehow facilitate growth or transformation. Entertainment is very important. People grow and nurture themselves through entertainment, and it’s also about having a connection to people through what I do and them appreciating what I do. I just know how important it was to me when I was a kid watching TV, what that did for me. So, if I do something similar for other people, that’s hugely satisfying.

I’ve seen you in Henry Danger and countless other shows like Modern Family and Wizards of Waverly Place, but I had no idea that you were trans, and you collaborated with GLAAD on a piece for Time Magazine where you openly discuss your transitioning journey. Was that the first time you openly talked about this?

Publicly, as in the media, yes. I was never secretive or stealth. The people who I shared with, I shared with, so it wasn’t like nobody knew. It just wasn’t out there publicly, and I was also taking a big risk in that I don’t define myself as trans. I say I’m of trans experience. For many people, it’s their identity, and I totally respect that, and it’s completely valid, but for me, it’s not my identity. For me, it’s my experience. It is an important experience and one that I’m very proud of and share because I think it has value to share. It has value for me to share it.

I’m a man; I’m male, and that’s the identity that resonates in truth for me. Before that, people labeled me. They were like, oh, you’re a lesbian. I’m like, well, I guess technically because I’m with a woman and I appear to be a woman at that time, but it didn’t fit, and that’s kind of how I feel with the trans label. Everybody’s going to put that label on me, but I don’t put it on me. It doesn’t feel truthful, and I did this journey so I could feel authentic and truthful. So, why would I take on another word that doesn’t make me feel that way?

I’m very much about looking at the truth. What’s your essential truth? What is the essence of who you are? For some people, that is trans, and that’s beautiful and great, but that language doesn’t make me feel that way. It makes me feel like I’m not being fully authentic somehow. I wanted to go for language that feels right, and I did collaborate with GLAAD and had many conversations with Nick Adams on how to do this. I want to share my truth, but I want to share it in language that works for me. I got a lot of feedback from a lot of other people saying, yeah, that’s how I feel too.

Because you work with a network like Nickelodeon and you’re on shows aimed towards kids, did you receive any backlash from people saying you were grooming children or any other ignorant response?

Not at that time. I mean, I chose the perfect time, where there was enough awareness that people knew what it was. When I transitioned in 2000, nobody knew what it was, but it was before all this nonsense about grooming and stuff. So, I didn’t get that kind of backlash, but later when I did the Trans Youth Acting Challenge, I started to get a little bit more of that backlash.

I love that you are focused on creating opportunities for young actors and writers of the trans experience. Can you talk more about that?

Yes, I did the Trans Youth Acting Challenge, and that continues to be a database for casting and producers who are looking for kids that don’t fit the typical binary gender norms that were assigned at birth. Basically, trans kids, nonbinary kids, and gender non-conforming kids. They exist, and they are real. Me and Danielle Pretsfelde, who was the casting director on it at the time, we work together at times and we’re both continuing to push this effort.

Then I also have a project called Wrote, which is Writers of Trans Experience, that I’ve been working on for a few years to try and help writers of trans experience get out there and get some mentoring. It’s still in development, and I’m kind of waiting for some things to happen, like the writers’ strike being over, to move forward.

You have also showcased your talent behind the camera by directing five episodes of Danger Force, including “Manlee Men,” which received a GLAAD Media Award nomination in the “Outstanding Kids & Family Programming” category. How meaningful was that for you?

Can’t even say. I mean, I just got chills and a little emotional thinking about that experience. It was the first time Nickelodeon had a trans character, let alone a trans teen played by an actor of trans experience. It was extraordinary, and that kid got cast out of the Trans Youth Acting Challenge. It opened up so many opportunities for them, and the way it worked out, the way we wrote it, it was like it had to be an identical twin.

How are we going to find that? I was like, I don’t know how we’re going to find it, but I know we will. And sure enough, Sasha Cohen, who besides having an awesome last name, was a finalist in the Trans Youth Acting Challenge, and happened to have an identical twin sister, Natalie. They got the roles and were so professional and skilled! I was so proud of them. It was just perfect, and then the recognition by GLAAD around it, it was such an amazing experience, and it was amazing to see Sasha do what I had so long to do as a kid. Be who I am and be on TV.

This past October, you partnered with the Trevor Project, Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG National, and other LGBTQ organizations to host a four-part workshop to help families impacted by the anti-trans legislation. Can you talk more about that?

Yes, it was called “Never Alone.” Early in the year, as all these legislative pieces were coming out, I never thought that it could be way worse than it was, but at the time, I was like, oh, it can’t get any worse, but let’s help these families. I enlisted PFLAG; we’ve collaborated on a lot of stuff before, and we recruited all these other national organizations to host a four-part series that helped parents, and we had like a kid summer camp at the end of it.

Jules Gill-Peterson came and talked; we provided legislative updates, and those kinds of things. It was this whole series that helped unite families that had not been introduced to each other, and a parent’s group got started out of that. Now, we also have some Facebook pages where parents can connect, and the Trans Youth Acting Challenge has an active Facebook page as well, so everyone can connect, find opportunities for the kids, or share support.

What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your career and platform?

I’m teaching a lot, so I’ve been really getting back into that, which I love. I’m teaching weekly classes; I’m doing a retreat in July, and I have a book on acting that I’m writing. While the writers’ strike is on, I’m cultivating these other things. I’m doing public speaking, giving talks to business groups and corporations about authenticity and sharing my story, and I’ve got a couple series that I’ve developed that will be pitched as soon as it’s time. One of which I’m co-writing with Andrew Thomas, who I wrote “Manlee Men” with on Danger Force.

I’ve also got a series of my own that I’m writing, as well as some other projects, so I’m very excited about the next steps. I have such a fantastic team around me that I’m really grateful for. We’re going to keep moving things forward.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention or plug?

There are some short films coming up on the festival circuit. One is called Agents of Change, and everybody in it is of trans experience or queer in some way. Then there’s Corners, which is a film I’m so proud of. James Brylowski is the writer, director, producer, and he’s a brilliant, brilliant guy. He’s like a Judd Apatow. I’m co-starring in that with Linda Kash, who is brilliant, and you’ll recognize her from Christopher Guest movies. So, be on the lookout for that. It’ll be in a bunch of film festivals coming up.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Cohen by following him on Facebook and Instagram @michaeldcohen, or visit michaeldcohen.com. For more about his teachings, visit michaeldcohenstudio.com.

Photos courtesy of Tim Schaeffer Photography