Meet TV’s history-making transgender actress Laverne Cox

theGRIO VIDEO - Transgender actress Laverne Cox talks about her starring role on 'Orange is the New Black,' and her transition from reality TV to Hollywood...

You might remember Laverne Cox as a contestant from season 1 of VH1’s reality show, I Want to Work for Diddy, but these days the transgender actress/producer can be seen on Netflix hit TV series, Orange Is the New Black.

With her role on Orange Is the New Black, Cox has made history as the first African American transgender actress with a starring role on TV show.

Cox, who has the same acting coach as Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, stars in the series as prison inmate Sophia Burset.

During an interview with theGrio’s Chris Witherspoon, Cox talks about making the transition for reality TV to Hollywood

“Long before I was doing reality television I was an actress,” Cox said. “So it was just like let’s get back to who I am and what it is that I do.”

According to Time, Orange Is the New Black “Is the new way of talking about TV.” Although the show is on Netflix, it has generated more buzz and critical acclaim than most TV shows that are currently airing on network and cable channels.

“People have been longing to see stories that reflect who they are,” Cox said “This woman came up to me on the street about a week ago and she said that ‘Hollywood thinks all the actresses should be stick thin, this is why we love your show because there are real women in the show and your telling real women’s stories.’”

Cox also talked about the feedback she’s received from the black community, while living as a full-time transgender woman.

“I feel like I’ve gotten amazing support from the [black] community. But also by the same token, most of the street harassment is from other black people. There’s a lot of black folks in my life who have been amazingly supportive, and I think there’s this myth that black folks are more transphobic or more homophobic than everyone else and I don’t think that’s true.”

Season 1 of Orange Is the New Black is now available on Netflix.

Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter for more Entertainment news at @WitherspoonC

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