Not everyone is laughing at the first trailer for “Zoolander 2.”
The highly-anticipated sequel to the 2001 comedy about a dimwitted male model has sparked a growing backlash over the film’s portrayal of an apparently gender fluid character named “All,” played by Academy Award-nominated actor, Benedict Cumberbatch. Approximately 10,000 people have so far pledged to boycott the movie for what one transgender rights activist described as an “offensive representation of non-binary individuals.”
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“Cumberbatch’s character is clearly portrayed as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals,” wrote Sarah Rose, author of the Care2 petition to boycott “Zoolander 2.” She blasted Cumberbatch’s portrayal as “the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority.”
The 39-year-old Cumberbatch, who previously scored an Oscar nod for his portrayal of gay mathematician Alan Turing in the 2015 drama “The Imitation Game,” appears for only a few seconds in the two-minute, 34-second trailer for “Zoolander 2,” which has been viewed over 12 million times since its release last week. In the trailer, Cumberbatch’s character is introduced with long hair and an open, fur coat — much to the confusion of the movie’s two vapid protagonists, Derek Zoolander (played by Ben Stiller, who also directed the movie) and Hansel (Owen Wilson).
“Are you like a male model or a female model?” asks Zoolander.
“All is all,” replies All.
“I think he’s asking, do you have a hotdog or a bun?” Hansel tries to clarify. All just giggles and says, “Oops.”
None of the actors in the scene have spoken publicly about the criticism. Paramount Pictures, which is scheduled to release the film on Feb. 12, 2016, did not reply to MSNBC’s request for comment.









