Zoe Terakes: ‘It’s a privilege to keep working while you’re transitioning. It’s also really challenging’

Australian actor, author and trans advocate Zoe Terakes walks from Dulwich Hill to Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west. Photograph: Carly Earl

There’s some kind of cosmic justice for the under-resourced Australian film industry in the fact that Zoe Terakes is more often recognised on the street for their role in Adelaide-made indie horror film Talk To Me than for Marvel’s multimillion-dollar series Ironheart, out earlier this year. “When it’s Talk to Me, I’m like, ‘Yeah, respect!’” Terakes says, grinning.

We’re walking down the main drag in Dulwich Hill, Terakes’ neighbourhood, on a sweltering October afternoon. The air is heavy and humid and the sky apocalyptic, so after picking up takeaway treats from their favourite Greek-owned coffee spot, Honey and Walnut Patisserie – decaf; crescent-shaped amygdalota (almond biscuits) and pillowy jam-daubed indokarida (coconut macaroons) – we head to their share house.