Marquise Vilson

Marquise Vilsón is an actor and activist of trans masculine experience. Marquise recently starred on the CW series TOM SWIFT as Isaac Vega, a trans, pansexual badass who is Tom’s bodyguard and right-hand man.  Marquise was introduced to TV audiences when he guest-starred in the critically acclaimed episode of LAW & ORDER: SVU that addressed the issues faced by transgender military service members (GLAAD Award Nomination).  Other TV credits include upcoming series A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, BULL, THE BLACKLIST, TALES OF THE CITY and BLINDSPOT.  Film Credits include THE KITCHEN, BEN IS BACK, and B-BOY BLUES. He made his New York stage debut Off-Broadway as Beta in MCC Theatre’s CHARM.  

In FX’s docuseries PRIDE (2021)  Marquise lent his voice and shares his experiences of Black trans masculine visibility in its infancy, during 1990’s culture wars with the Oscar Award winning Yance Ford. Additionally, Marquise served as a creative consultant and was featured in the documentary film DISCLOSURE (Sundance Film Festival 2019), executive produced by Laverne Cox and directed by Sam Feder, and he was also featured in the documentary film NO ORDINARY MAN (Toronto Film Festival 2020), co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt.

As a young person, Marquise was featured in the documentary film THE AGGRESSIVES (2005), which explored his personal journey and some of his ball walking experience as a then ballroom ‘star’. Marquise will now serve as an Executive Producer for the follow-up film that is currently in production. A long standing member and participant of the underground ballroom scene, Marquise is a force and well-respected leader in the ballroom community, having walked numerous categories over the last two (2) plus decades and is a known staple within the ballroom community. 

Acknowledged by his ballroom family and non-profit sectors alike for his visibility and community work, Marquise has been presented with the Eric Christian Bazaar Award, Octavia St. Laurent Trans Activist Award, the Masquerade Blue Print Award and deemed a Transman ICON and was inducted into the Dorian Corey Hall of Fame for all his contributions. Marquise actively sits on boards for AVP and GMHC, as a Board of Directors.  As one of the earlier images of Black trans masculinity in both media/pop culture and activist/advocacy spaces, Marquise continues to be unapologetic and provide authentic representation and reflection of Black trans masculinity.