Is Ready to Be Seen on Her Own Terms
By Ava Pauline Emilione
Photography by Aleck Venegas
After surviving the tabloids, the actress opens up about transitioning, visibility, and life as the daughter of Hollywood legends.
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| Airyn De Niro |
In the corner of a rustic Williamsburg café, Airyn De Niro tells me about getting locs for the first time. She recites the rhythm of the stylist’s deft fingers working through her curls: Wash, comb, retwist. Wash, comb, retwist. During a visit to Annette Roche’s beloved New York City salon, Airyn’s tender scalp ached as she listened to Black women share gossip and make small talk. Hours passed before the loctician, a stylist specifically for locs, tapped her on the shoulder. Her hair was done at last. As she left the salon, she caught a glimpse of her reflection and did not look away.
The 29-year-old’s first appointment at a Black hair salon, which she made after seeing Halle Bailey’s locs in The Little Mermaid, marks a turning point in her journey toward liberatory gender expression. An aspiring model and voice actor studying to be a mental health counselor, Airyn is taking a break from her daily grind to speak with me about navigating her transition, the entertainment industry, and the media attention that comes with being Robert De Niro’s daughter. As she enters the café, a cascade of pink locs flows down her back.
“It just felt right,” Airyn says of her locs, which look as weightless and colorful as butterfly wings against her all-black fit. “I feel like I’m meant to be doing this.”
While Airyn has been femme-presenting since middle school, her decision to begin hormone therapy last November was borne out of a desire to maintain that femininity as she got older (“Who wants to be an old man?” she asks.) After seeing successful trans women open up about their transitions, Airyn dared to imagine a similar future for herself despite feeling like a self-proclaimed “late bloomer.”
“Trans women being honest and open, especially [in] public spaces like social media and getting to see them in their success… I’m like, you know what? Maybe it's not too late for me,” she says of her internal process. “Maybe I can start.”
Embracing Black femininity in particular allows her to escape the limiting walls of desirability politics. “I think a big part of [my transition] is also the influence Black women have had on me,” she says. “I think stepping into this new identity, while also being more proud of my Blackness, makes me feel closer to them in some way.”
See also: Robert De Niro shows support for daughter Airyn after she shares she’s trans: ‘I don’t know what the big deal is’
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