Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney cast as Jacinda Ardern in upcoming biopic ‘The Queen of Kindness’

Matua Kahurangi

In a casting move that has already sparked mockery across social media, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has been cast to play Jacinda Ardern in the upcoming biopic The Queen of Kindness. Directed by Taika Waititi, the film aims to dramatise Ardern’s carefully curated political career, from her time as a small-town MP to her global image as a tyrannical monster.

Waititi reportedly defended the choice by claiming Mulvaney bore a “striking resemblance” to Ardern, going so far as to say that while Mulvaney is biologically male, “she is actually far more attractive than Jacinda”. A quote that’s already drawing stunned reactions from both sides of the aisle.

Charlie Sheen set to play Clarke Gayford

But the casting circus doesn’t stop there. Ardern’s partner, Clarke Gayford, will reportedly be played by none other than Charlie Sheen – described by some as “everyone’s favourite coke addict”. The choice adds a surreal layer of Hollywood absurdity to an already bizarre production.

To top it off, Salma Hayek is rumoured to have been cast as the couple’s babysitter, a role that has yet to be explained but is likely to add the kind of over-the-top glamour only Hollywood could dream up for an otherwise mundane piece of real-life domesticity.

The film’s title, The Queen of Kindness, already feels like a parody of Ardern’s legacy. With Dylan Mulvaney in the lead and this fever-dream supporting cast, the project seems less like a tribute and more like a full-blown satire wrapped in woke window

Coming hot on the heels of Ardern’s overproduced memoir A Different Kind of Power. which Mulvaney promoted in a scripted, soulless video – the film looks less like a tribute and more like a desperate rebranding exercise. Despite global media spin, Ardern remains the most hated people in New Zealand’s modern history. In a recent poll on X, when users were asked who they’d rather have to dinner, Jacinda Ardern or Adolf Hitler, the majority chose Hitler. That result speaks volumes. No amount of staged Hollywood fluff will erase the public memory of a prime minister whose legacy many view not as kind, but as controlling, divisive, and authoritarian.