Jasmine Costello
Encyclopedia
Jason Costello is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the English Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...

, played by Victoria Atkin
Victoria Atkin
Victoria Atkin is an English actress best known for playing the character Jason Costello, previously known as Jasmine, in the British soap opera Hollyoaks and Hollyoaks Later as the soap's first character with Gender Identity Disorder. Hollyoaks is Atkin's first television role...

. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 2 August 2010 and was introduced by series producer Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess is a Northern Irish-born British television producer.-Television career:His credits include Brookside, The Bill and Family Affairs. He also originated the idea for the series Footballers' Wives...

 as a member of the yet to be established Costello family. Originally introduced as Jasmine, Atkin portrays the first character in the soap opera to suffer gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...

. After the storyline's reveal, Jasmine expressed her desire to be known as and changed her name by deed poll to Jason. An androphilic transman, Jason's storyline prominently explores the secrecy and trials of his romantic relationship with Bart McQueen
Bart McQueen
Bartholomew "Bart" McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jonny Clarke. He first appeared onscreen at his stepmother's funeral in August 2010, introduced by producer Paul Marquess as a member of the McQueen family...

 (Jonny Clarke
Jonny Clarke
Jonny Clarke, is an English actor. He is best known for playing the character of Bart McQueen in the channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-Career:...

), a heterosexual male who originally developed an attraction to Jason as Jasmine. Jason departed from Hollyoaks on 1 December 2011.

Character creation and casting

In January 2010, it was announced that Lucy Allan
Lucy Allan (producer)
Lucy Jane Allan is a British television producer, best known for her work on Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.Allan's other credited work include a script editor for Dream Team and assistant to director in Chica de Río....

 had stepped down from the position of series producer and that Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess is a Northern Irish-born British television producer.-Television career:His credits include Brookside, The Bill and Family Affairs. He also originated the idea for the series Footballers' Wives...

 had taken over the role. It was soon revealed that Marquess planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", and begin a cast cull. In April 2010 Marquess announced plans to introduce new family, the Costellos. Speaking about the new family Marquess stated "They're only one of three families. They're family number two. The thing about the Costellos is that The Dog has to be somewhere the audience wants to be. It's like when I did Brookside, the first thing I did was put Bev in the bar so you wanted to be in there.....I'm not saying the Costellos won't have serious stories but I think you'll want to be there. They're good-looking kids and the parents are good-looking and there's potential for energy and fun." The Costellos were a built on family to the all ready established Jem Costello
Jem Costello
Jem Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Helen Russell-Clark. She made her first on-screen appearance on 5 March 2010.-Character creation and casting:...

 (Helen Russell-Clark). Jasmine was introduced later than the rest of her family. On the 1 July 2010 it was announced actress Victoria Atkin had been hired to play the part.

In September 2011, it was announced that Atkin had decided to quit the programme in order to pursue other projects. Atkins departs the series on 30 November 2011.

Gender identity disorder

When the character was announced, two pictures were released showing Victoria dressed as 'Jasmine' and true, male self, Jason Costello. It was also revealed that Jasmine would be involved in a storyline highlighting the issue of gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...

, which is defined as the feeling that one was born into the wrong gender. Of the character's creation, Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....

 reported that "Jasmine's journey will highlight the mental trauma, physical disgust and ongoing frustration of a boy trapped in a girl's body, as well as the effects that her condition has on those around her. Atkin worked with transgender teenagers in order to perfect her part. One of the teenagers she worked the most with was Benson Bell, a seventeen-year-old transgender male. He helped advise Atkin on the performance of the storyline and was available on set for her. Atkin also revealed she had drawn inspiration from Hillary Swank's performance as Teena Brandon in the film Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry (film)
Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 American independent romantic drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and co-written by Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man played by Hilary Swank, who pursues a relationship with a young woman, played by Chloë...

, but stated that the storyline would not progress in such a violent way.

Whilst interviewed by newspaper The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

Atkin admitted she had not known anything about transgender issues before taking the role and stated: "It was a big revelation for me how much taunting and bullying there is. The trauma and the effect on the family is huge. The impact on siblings at school, for example, came up with a lot of the people I have spoken to. They are often attacked, too." She also revealed that she finds some of the male attire hard to wear. Executive producer also claimed that the storyline was not aimed to be sensationalist or being used to increase viewing figure, stating he grew up knowing what isolation felt like and wanted to portray a story which mirrored a taboo subject that people would find hard to talk about to their peers.

Storylines

Jasmine is fifteen, twin sister of Seth Costello
Seth Costello
Seth Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Miles Higson. He made his first on-screen appearance on 20 July 2010. His first major storyline was in 2011 when he was the centre of a Steroids plot...

 (Miles Higson), the younger sister of Riley Costello
Riley Costello
Riley Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Rob Norbury. Riley was introduced in July 2010 with his on-screen family by series producer Paul Marquess as part of a cast overhaul of the series....

 (Rob Norbury) and daughter of ex footballer Carl Costello
Carl Costello
Carl Costello, is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Paul Opacic. The character was introduced by executive producer Paul Marquess and debuted onscreen during the episode airing on 19 July 2010. He came to the village as the new owner of The Dog in the...

 (Paul Opacic
Paul Opacic
Paul Opacic is an English actor. He is currently best known for his role as Carl Costello in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-Career:...

) and ex model Heidi Costello
Heidi Costello
Heidi Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kim Tiddy. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 July 2010 and made her final appearance in the series on 1 November 2011, after the character was accidentally murdered by her father, Silas...

 (Kim Tiddy
Kim Tiddy
Kim Tiddy , is an English actress, is known for playing the part of PC Honey Harman, in the ITV soap opera The Bill, and Heidi Costello in the British Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.-Personal life:...

). When Jasmine first arrives she shows anger to her half sister Jem for running away from home in 2007. Jasmine is taken to Evissa by her mother for a makeover and she seems unhappy to be there, until she strikes up a friendship with Bart McQueen
Bart McQueen
Bartholomew "Bart" McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jonny Clarke. He first appeared onscreen at his stepmother's funeral in August 2010, introduced by producer Paul Marquess as a member of the McQueen family...

 (Jonny Clarke
Jonny Clarke
Jonny Clarke, is an English actor. He is best known for playing the character of Bart McQueen in the channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-Career:...

).

Jasmine is first seen dressing as Jason when she joins in with some other boys who are adding graffiti to a wall. She is nearly caught by Carl but manages to run away. Jasmine spends a day with Bart however runs off after he kisses her. Jasmine decides to be with Bart to annoy her dad. She and a group of her new male friends decide to crash a party at the McQueen's
McQueen family
The McQueen family are a fictional family in the long-running Channel 4 soap-opera Hollyoaks. The family first appeared in 2006 and have been involved in a number of the shows main storylines since then, most notably John Paul's affair with Craig Dean and Niall's revenge on his...

 house where she is dressed as Jason and kisses Anita Roy
Anita Roy
Anita Roy is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Saira Choudhry. Choudhry was cast in 2008 as part of the new Roy family and arrived in November and stayed in the serial for 2 years before she left Hollyoaks on 20 January 2011...

 (Saira Choudhry
Saira Choudhry
Saira Choudhry is an English actress, most notable for her role as Anita Roy in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks .-Television:-External links:...

). Anita pursues her, later finding out that Jason is Jasmine, but she persuades her to speak to her about it and we learn that Jasmine feels like she's a male in a girl's body. Sometime later, Bart tells her about stealing Jacqui McQueen's (Claire Cooper
Claire Cooper
Claire Elizabeth Cooper is an English actress who currently plays Jacqui McQueen in British Channel 4 series Hollyoaks...

) money in a bid to impress her but is shot down by her disgust although she later comes round and they reconcile. Jasmine starts to be bullied by a girl in her class Fern (Amy Gavin). Fern catches Jason on a night and the pair seem to make up when Jasmine tells her all about her double life and Fern opens up to the fact that she is a lesbian. Things take a turn for the worst when Jasmine reveals that she still fancies boys and knocks back Fern's advances.

Fern blackmails Jasmine who turns to Bart for comfort. Jasmine and Bart begin to have sex. However disgusted with her body, she runs off and self harms. In a frantic fight between Fern and Jason, Bart get stabbed and ends up in hospital. Jasmine gose to see Bart who thinks Jason stabbed him so bart gets susitious about why Jasmin Is sticking up for Jason so, Jasmine decides to reveal herself as Jason to Bart who is disgusted and tells her to go away however comes back for her when she sees her being taunted by Fern. Fern steals Jason's clothes which are covered in Bart's blood as insurance. Following an argument with Bart, Jasmine comes out to Jem as Jason. Although Jem is accepting she exclaims their dad won't be. Fern continues to blackmail Jasmine, dating Seth to taunt her. Bart and Jasmine resume their friendship and he encourages her to come out. Bart and Jasmine tell the police Fern stabbed Bart. Jasmine cuts her hair short and changes into her normal clothes, tells her family the truth and begins to live as Jason full-time.

Jason's mother tells him that she has booked him into a clinic; however, unknown to Jason, his mum's aim is to "cure" him rather than to help with his gender identity disorder. The clinic encourage him to be Jason, which annoys Heidi. At the school, Eva Strong
Eva Strong
Tania Evette "Eva" Strong is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sheree Murphy. She made her first on-screen appearance on 23 April 2010.-Character creation and casting:...

 (Sheree Murphy
Sheree Murphy
Sheree Murphy is an English actress and television presenter. A former student of the prestigious Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Murphy placed second on the fifth series of the Reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!...

), edits a letter about him to the whole year. Jason becomes victimised and Bart joins in the bullying, however gains the support of Seth. Carl admits that he just wants Jason to be happy and agrees to stand by him. Seth is jealous of their bonding and writes nasty comments on the internet about Jason. Heidi argues with Jason and tells him she would rather he was dead. Jason jumps infront of a car that Bart has stolen. After hearing Jason's reason for stepping in front of the car, Bart confronts Heidi. She eventually apologises to Jason and tells him that she loves him. When Jason and Seth turn sixteen, at their birthday party Jason tells Bart he loves him, but Bart reveals he is dating Sinead O'Connor
Sinead O'Connor (Hollyoaks)
Sinead O'Connor is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stephanie Davis. The character first appeared on 1 September 2010 as a member of the new O'Connor family, introduced as part of the show's overhaul by series producer Paul Marquess.-Casting:Details...

 (Stephanie Davis). Jason has a fight with Seth but instead of cutting himself, he vows to makes changes to his life. After Bart decides not to sit his exams, Jason helps him revise and Sinead becomes jealous.

Sinead sets Jason up on a date with a gay male Andy. The date does not work, but Bart becomes jealous. During an argument the pair almost kiss, afterward Bart threatens to ruin Jason's life if he tells anyone. Bart and Sinead run away from home after they are banned from seeing each other. Bart contacts Jason for financial help, he rushes to Bart's aid much to Sinead's annoyance. She attempts to rid of Jason as she can see the bond he has with Bart. When they break into a farmhouse for food, the property owners locks Jason and Bart in a celler. Bart is injured in the incedent and Jason worries he may not regain conciousness and declares his love for Bart. When Bart wakes up, they discuss their feelings and share a kiss. Sinead saves them but reveals she saw their kiss. She rips Jason's clothes off and degrades him for wearing chest bandages and tells him he will never be a real boy. Sinead dumps Bart as they return home.

Jason begins to rebel after Carl refuses to let him begin taking hormone blockers. Jason is arrested after he steals Ash Kane's (Holly Weston) and later buys unprescribed treatment via the internet. Carl stops Jason from taking them, but agrees to let him start the treatment at a later date. Silas later murders Heidi and is arrested. Letting the entire village know that he murdered the girls, not Brendan Brady
Brendan Brady
Brendan Brady is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Emmett J. Scanlan. The character was introduced in 2010 by series producer Paul Marquess during part of the show's overhaul the character has become incredibly popular and liked.He is the older half...

 (Emmett J. Scanlan
Emmett J. Scanlan
Emmett J. Scanlan is an Irish actor from Dublin.In 2008 and 2009, Scanlan appeared in the Justin Timberlake-produced MTV series The Phone, as "The Operator"...

). While greiving for his loss, Jason tells Bart that he needs to fight for Sinead. Jason and Bart travel to London in order to find Sinead. Bart tells Jason he is the reason he cannot admit his love for Sinead. They reveal to one another that they kept old text messages from while they were dating. Jason tells Bart to let go of Jasmine and win Sinead back, he also tells tells Bart that he loves him but needs to move on.

Jason, Riley and Seth's dad comes back trying to make it up to the boys. While Riley and Seth ignore Carl, Jason grows closer to him, then Carl announces that he wants to move to America and take him and Seth with him. At first Jason says no, then after thinking about it he says yes and tells Seth who doesn't take the news well.

Jason then says an emotional farewell to Bart, Sinead and Tilly and all his family. Bart wants to see him but Jason says that it is a permanant goodbye and that they will never meet again. Jason says that he wants to start again in America as if Jasmine never existed and he says 'I will never forget you Bart Mcqueen'. The next day they drive off to the airport and head to America. Jason made his last appearance on the 1st of December as Bart waved farewell.

Reception

Atkin was nominated in the long-list category of "Best Actress" at the 2011 British Soap Awards
British Soap Awards
The British Soap Awards is an annual awards ceremony to honour the best of British soap operas.The first event took place in 1999 and takes place in May each year. Although it is an ITV production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre, in London until 2010. The 2011 awards relocated to...

.

External links

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