In an exclusive interview with Gayety, Jaiyah Saelua, the groundbreaking transgender football star, shares her thoughts on "Next Goal Wins," directed by Taika Waititi! During our conversation, Jaiyah shared her perspective on the film's influence, representation, and compelling narratives. She also opens up about her fa’afafine identity, the richness of diverse experiences, and the hurdles encountered by the trans community in sports.
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00:00 Just to start us off, what was your reaction to hearing that they were making this movie?
00:05 Oh, all the feels. I was nervous, excited, happy, curious. So many different emotions.
00:13 Because I did understand that a Hollywood feature film has the power to amplify our story.
00:20 So, anxiety, even just having people opening up our story to a much wider audience in the world.
00:30 We can go either way. We can be criticized, joked about, or we can be celebrated.
00:34 All those wonderful things.
00:39 But I was prepared for the experience that this movie was going to take me on because of the documentary.
00:49 Because it was released in 2014 and I was privileged enough to do the tour for it.
00:57 And just going into making this one, it's got to be different. Someone else is going to be playing you.
01:03 How much of a role did you have in this adaptation?
01:06 Oh, none. We met with Taika when he decided to...
01:12 I just happened to be in Hawaii when Taika met with Steve Jameson and Mike Brett, who are the creators of the documentary.
01:18 And they invited me to dinner with them. Taika said, "I want to make this movie."
01:23 And, you know, not exactly that, but along the lines of...
01:28 We thought it was a good idea and just left it to him to do what he does best.
01:34 And then we had dinner. That was pretty much the bulk of it.
01:38 And it wasn't until they actually started casting and filming where I took a more interested role in making sure representation was there.
01:55 I was confident that Taika as a Pacific Islander would do this film justice, which is basically what he's done.
02:05 So have you seen the whole movie?
02:08 I have many times.
02:10 Oh, good.
02:13 I mean, I have to ask, how did you feel that the portrayal of this was?
02:18 Did you have any reservations going into it and then you were surprised by anything?
02:23 Oh, pleasantly surprised by the fact that Kaimana, who plays Jaya, was given one of the more lead roles and is highlighted even.
02:34 And the Fafafine identity, the sensitivities of the Fafafine identity is highlighted and portrayed so beautifully, as said by one of the coaches, Fafafine are the flowers of the world.
02:47 And, you know, things like that are, those are nice little surprises of the film that I really appreciated.
02:53 And then also the harsh realities of the trans identity and trans experiences that we face.
03:02 I mean, as traumatizing and uncomfortable as they are for us, how do you think audiences will feel?
03:12 And that would push them to do something, say something, stand up for us, if anything.
03:22 A lot of the experiences that Kaimana goes through in the movie as Jaya are accurate to my own experiences, just not in the timeline that it was set.
03:32 Well, that's good to hear. I was going to ask. I mean, yeah, like I know that it's based on the documentary, but obviously it's dramatized and it's gone through different people.
03:42 But it still is definitely, you know, a story worth telling. And it's so beautiful, like you said, that, you know, you get to be such a big role in this story.
03:49 And I just want to ask, I mean, what do you hope that audiences take away from, you know, young people seeing this, especially as it relates to people in sports today?
03:59 The film is so appealing to so many different demographics, different groups, and like sports people can walk away from the theater,
04:09 having being reminded of the reason why they played whatever sport they play, because they love the game.
04:15 Taking them back to the grassroots level where they were kids, you know, kicking the ball around or throwing the football around or hitting the baseball with their dad, you know, things like that.
04:24 Where it's not always about winning and the more we grow in sports, the more it becomes business oriented rather than, you know, about the game itself.
04:35 And then like Soji and Rainbow communities will go out feeling, you know, just represented and invigorated to be visible in their own communities.
04:50 And audiences outside of those two demographics would get a taste of our culture, of the Samoan culture, of the Pacific vibe, of the Fafafine identity,
05:03 and how we as Fafafine have a role and a responsibility in our communities and in our families, or even our churches.
05:10 Western societies have the chance to learn a lot from, you know, our existence.
05:16 Absolutely. And I mean, just saying this, like in sports today, it's not as inclusive as we would like it to be, you know, transgender people.
05:25 There was such groundbreaking progress over the past few years.
05:34 And then all of a sudden, like the conservative narrative started to get brave and aggressive and took over.
05:44 And then like all of a sudden, the NCAA and IOC and sports organizations in the world, thankfully not FIFA, started to backtrack on the progress that they made.
05:55 And like, it feels like we take one step forward to take two back.
06:01 And the bad thing about that is that it becomes intergenerational.
06:08 And like, by the time we take two steps forward or one step forward, a whole generation would have already felt the effects of the last, you know, the mistakes of the past.
06:18 And that's, it just feels like an uphill climb, struggle, battle to just exist in spaces that are sports.
06:31 I feel like all these sports organizations can take a look at, if they just take a look at FIFA and the steps that they're making to be more inclusive of, you know, more diverse groups of people around the world,
06:46 making sure that football is more accessible, more available to different demographics, and the steps that they're taking to make it more diverse,
06:56 just simply makes it more of an appealing sport, you know.
07:03 And, you know, all the sports have the opportunity to grow in the world if they would just be more diverse.
07:10 Absolutely. I mean, couldn't have said it better myself.
07:14 I don't have much time left, but I really just wanted to ask, I mean, the story just focuses on the love of this sport.
07:19 So I wanted to know, you know, when did you know that you love this sport and why have you kept it, you know, in your life so long?
07:25 When I was 11 years old, it was the only sport that was offered at the private school that I went to.
07:31 We took the championship title that first year in competition.
07:35 I was named the most, island wide, most valuable player of the league.
07:40 Also at that grassroots level, it's a mixed team. It's a boys and girls team versus a boys and girls team.
07:47 So the innocence of it, the purity of football at that level resonated with me at a young age.
07:55 And I just, you know, immediately was so drawn to it.
07:58 And I couldn't, I, from that point on, I just couldn't see myself not being involved in football.
08:05 Even up until now, when I, after playing for the national team for more than 20 years, thinking of retiring,
08:13 I already have a plan to still be involved in football where I'm taking courses with FIFA so that I am,
08:19 by the time I do retire, I'm a C-licensed coach where I can coach a women's national football team or a youth national football team.
08:26 Well, thank you so much for chatting with me and sharing your story.