Ash Palmisciano

Ash Palmisciano (born 3 January 1990) is an English actor. After being assigned female at birth, he came out as transgender in 2012 and later became the first trans actor to appear on stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was later hired by the ITV1 soap opera Emmerdale to work as a story consultant for a trans storyline, but after impressing producers, he was instead cast on the soap. His character, Matty Barton, became the first trans character on Emmerdale and he won the Best Newcomer accolade at the Inside Soap Awards for his portrayal of Matty.