Arcade Fire respond to criticism of 'We Exist' video

Arcade Fire's Win Butler and director David Wilson have responded to criticism of their new music video 'We Exist', after Laura Jane Grace suggested they should have used a trans actor.

The video, which stars Andrew Garfield as a transgender woman coming to terms with her own identity, has so far amassed just over 2 million views on YouTube.

Against Me!'s lead singer Laura Jane Grace though, who is herself transgender, criticised the video for not hiring an actual trans actor. 

Dear @arcadefire , maybe when making a video for a song called "We Exist" you should get an actual "Trans" actor instead of Spider-Man?

Now, in an interview with Advocate.com, Win Butler and David Wilson have explained the casting choice, saying: "For a gay kid in Jamaica to see the actor who played Spider-Man in that role is pretty damn powerful, in my opinion."

Wilson added that he initially intended to cast a Trans actor, but was persuaded by Garfield's passion for the project. "For an actor of that calibre to be that emotionally invested in a music video is just a very special thing," he explained. "It just completely made sense."

Wilson also explained that Garfield worked closely on the video with trans musician Our Lady J.

'We Exist' is taken from Arcade Fire's fourth album, Reflektor, which was released last year.