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Darrell Walls (born October 1, 1985) is an American model, actor, and fashion designer. Walls is most widely known for his role on both the eleventh cycle and the seventeenth cycle of the reality television show America's Next Top Model. He was the first openly trans to compete on the show, and became one of the most visible transgender people on television. Walls has been starring as Sol Perez on the Amazon Prime Video romantic comedy series With Love since 2021.
Walls was born a male but has stated, "mentally and everything else" he was "born female." He has stated, people might refer to him as "tra
Darrell Walls (born October 1, 1985) is an American model, actor, and fashion designer. Walls is most widely known for his role on both the eleventh cycle and the seventeenth cycle of the reality television show America's Next Top Model. He was the first openly trans to compete on the show, and became one of the most visible transgender people on television. Walls has been starring as Sol Perez on the Amazon Prime Video romantic comedy series With Love since 2021.
Walls was born a male but has stated, "mentally and everything else" he was "born female." He has stated, people might refer to him as "transgender" or "transsexual", but he prefers the phrase "born in the wrong body". While in high school, King came out as "gay" but later felt it was not an accurate label for him.
Walls has an associate degree in design and illustration from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Walls moved to New York to begin his transition, but didn’t earn enough money to afford rent, and his family opposed his transition. As a result, he moved into the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBTQ youth.
In 2007, Walls appeared in an MSNBC special titled Born in the Wrong Body, which documented the lives of transgender teens from across the United States. Walls began hormone replacement therapy in the summer of 2007, as part of his transitioning process. He had gender reassignment surgery in 2009, which he stated on America's Next Top Model: All Stars.
Walls had been runway modeling for seven years before participating in America's Next Top Model. His experience included competing in the underground ball culture scene. In a promotional interview for ANTM, Walls stated he was looking forward to runway as he had been "walking" for seven years. His post-show runway credits include the Amore Fashion Show, Howard University Homecoming Fashion Show, Colors Fall/Winter 2009–10 Line, Secret Society, and Images Fashion Show (for which he received an award).
He has also worked as a receptionist at a hair salon, and as a program assistant for a nonprofit organization.
Since then Walls has worked with American Apparel, making him the first transgender person to do so.
In July 2015, Darrell was a guest star on multiple episodes of the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
Walls played Gia in a guest role on season 7 of the Showtime show Shameless.
In Fall 2016, Walls' docu-series Strut, executive produced by Whoopi Goldberg, aired on the Oxygen Network. It followed five trans models, and documented Walls' move from New York to Los Angeles.
In 2019, he starred in the Netflix series When They See Us, created by Ava DuVernay, a series about the real story of the Central Park Five. He plays Marci, the deceased older sister of Korey Wise. Walls said that playing this role is ‘like a magnifying glass on the world right now’(express online). Walls' role is “relatable to who she is as a person.” He feels like transgender women of color are especially at risk of being the victim of murder, as Marci Wise suffered.
In August 2019, Walls was the subject of a Deadline interview. In it he discussed trans visibility, acceptance, and other matters.
On July 3, 2020, Walls appeared on fellow America's Next Top Model star Jay Manuel's weekly web chat, Jays Chat, to discuss the show's Cycle 11, on which he made her debut.
Walls is now signed with AEFH Talent for Theatrical, and A3 Artist Agency for commercial work in Los Angeles.
Walls appeared in Us Weekly (September 2008), Seventeen magazine (December 2008/January 2009), Out magazine, Mallard International magazine, and the cover of the Spring 2010 Swerv magazine. Walls also did a variety of test shots that were used to promote his visit to The Tyra Banks Show. In 2012 he became American Apparel's first openly transgender model. However, Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People (MAGNET), an anti-defamation organization dedicated to educating the media about transsexual, transgender, and intersex issues, launched an education campaign against the t-shirts Walls modeled because they say "Gay O.K.", which some feel is misleading since Walls is a straight transgender man. Chanel Jessica Lopez, a transsexual and transgender communities based counselor at New York City's Anti-Violence Project, called for a boycott of the t-shirts for the same reason.
In 2014, Walls was featured on the fifth anniversary cover of C☆NDY magazine along with 13 transgender women: Janet Mock, Carmen Carrera, Geena Rocero, Laverne Cox, Gisele Alicea, Leyna Ramous, Dina Marie, Nina Poon, Juliana Huxtable, Niki M'nray, Peche Di, Carmen Xtravaganza, and Yasmine Petty.
Walls is one of a small but growing number of transgender people and characters in film and television, and his inclusion on ANTM has been called an "unprecedented opportunity" by Neil Giuliano, president of GLAAD. By competing on the show, Walls has brought national and prime time attention to issues of gender transitioning and gender expression. New York magazine has called Walls the cause célèbre of Cycle 11, comparing him to previous contestant "issues" featured on the show such as Cycle 9 contestant Heather Kuzmich's Asperger syndrome. ANTM executive producer Ken Mok stated his casting was done in support of "redefin[ing] what beauty is," one of "Tyra's original missions" for the show.
Due to the intimate nature of the program, which films the contestants living together during the several weeks of the competition, GLAAD spokesman Damon Romine noted "the show deals head on with the contestants confronting their own phobias. Facets of Walls' transitioning process have been portrayed in the show, such as his hormone injections and subsequent nausea. There's going to be support, and the reverse of that. It opens the door for the other girls and the viewers to get to know Walls and the transgender community." Some of Walls' fellow contestants revealed prejudices and misunderstandings about transgender issues, and others commented about how his gender transitioning would be poorly received in their own small communities or in the southern United States. Contestants have referred to Walls properly as a "he/she" and a "drag queen".
New York magazine noted that Walls is one of few transgender models in history to rise to public prominence, comparing his to Teri Toye, former club kid Amanda Lepore, and the gender-bending club promoter and model André J. Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York, told ABC News that the time may be right for a transgender supermodel: "Maybe it's time for a tranny [sic] to end up on the cover of Vogue."
Walls is a practicing Christian, and attends Mosaic Church in Los Angeles.
His younger sister Chanel died as a baby after being born with all of his organs outside of her body. Because of that, Darrell Walls has participated in the Catwalk for Cause, where all the proceeds go to Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore.
In 2016, he began to focus on his acting and modeling skills and moved to Los Angeles.
He is a motivational speaker and shares his experiences to schools across the country.
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Tags: American (4), Model (4), Trans (4), Lgbt (4), Trans Woman (3), Transgender (3), Black (3), Beautiful (3), Antm Cycle Eleven (3), Attractive (3), Born In 1985 (2), Antm Contestant (2), Reality Tv Contestant (2), Ebony (2), Transwoman (2), Born 1985 (2), Gorgeous (2), Brown Eyes (1), Stunning (1), Female Perfection (1)
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