What is Hunter Schafer's Net Worth and Salary?
Hunter Schafer is an actress, fashion model, and LGBTQ activist who has a net worth of $6 million. Hunter Schafer is best known for playing transgender high school student Jules Vaughn on the HBO teen drama series "Euphoria." As a model, she has worked with numerous high-profile brands including Calvin Klein, Prada, Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, Emilio Pucci, and Marc Jacobs. Schafer also gained recognition for becoming the youngest plaintiff in the ACLU's case against North Carolina's gender-discriminatory Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act in 2016.
Early Life and Education
Hunter Schafer was born on New Year's Eve, 1998 in Trenton, New Jersey to Mac and Katy. She has a younger brother and two younger sisters. Due to her father's profession as a Presbyterian minister, Schafer moved with her family between church congregations in New Jersey and Arizona before settling in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, she went to Needham B. Broughton High School before transferring to the North Carolina School of the Arts, from which she graduated in 2017. Passionate about visual art, Schafer spent much of her teenage life illustrating fashion designs and posting them to social media.
For her higher education, Schafer planned to go to the London arts college Central Saint Martins; however, she deferred her enrollment so she could pursue her professional career instead.
Activism
While in high school, Schafer was active in protesting North Carolina's gender-discriminatory Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, which, among other things, prohibits transgender people from using the washroom that matches their gender identity. Notably, she served as a plaintiff in the ACLU's lawsuit against the bill, and wrote op-eds that went viral. In recognition of her activism, Schafer was named to Teen Vogue's "21 Under 21" list in 2017, and was interviewed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Modeling Career
As a fashion model, Schafer has appeared in advertisements and on the runway for numerous major fashion houses. She has modeled for Dior, Coach, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Rick Owens, Emilio Pucci, Marc Jacobs, Thierry Mugler, Dior, and Miu Miu, among others. Schafer has walked in New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, and has been featured in publications around the world.
Acting Career
Schafer achieved a new level of fame in 2019 when she landed a main role on the HBO teen drama television series "Euphoria." Based on the eponymous Israeli miniseries, the show focuses on a group of high school students navigating such issues as love, friendship, family, substance abuse, sex, and identity. Schafer plays Jules Vaughn, a good-natured transgender girl involved in a tumultuous relationship with teen drug addict Ruby "Rue" Bennett. The ensemble cast of "Euphoria" also includes Zendaya, Maude Apatow, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Barbie Ferreira, Storm Reid, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, and Algee Smith, among others.
Elsewhere in her nascent acting career, Schafer lent her voice to the English-language dub of the animated Japanese science-fantasy film "Belle," released in 2021. In the film, which was inspired by the French fairytale "Beauty and the Beast," Schafer played the character of Ruka "Ruka-chan" Watanabe.
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Other Endeavors
In addition to acting on "Euphoria," Schafer co-wrote an episode of the show alongside the series' creator Sam Levinson, whom she helped accurately capture her experiences as a transgender woman. She also served as a co-executive producer on the episode.
Honors
Among the honors she has received in her career so far, Schafer has mostly been recognized for her LGBTQ activism. In June of 2020, on the 50th anniversary of the inaugural LGBTQ Pride parade, she was named by the online magazine Queerty as one of the 50 people "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people." The following year, Schafer was included on Time magazine's list of "100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future"; this was accompanied by a written tribute from her "Euphoria" costar Zendaya.
Personal Life
Schafer is a transgender woman; she made her transition as a freshman in high school after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria. In 2019, she said she identified as something close to a lesbian, while later, in 2021, she wrote on Twitter that she felt she was either bisexual or pansexual. In February of 2022, it was revealed that Schafer was in a relationship with her "Euphoria" costar Dominic Fike.
Real Estate
In October 2023 Hunter paid $3.9 million, which was $200k over asking, for a home in LA's Brentwood neighborhood.
