NEW YORK — Laverne Cox realizes she is having a winning moment as a transgender actor in entertainment – including a recent Emmy nomination – and she hopes her story will continue to inspire others.
“It gives me hope that anything is possible. I’m a black trans woman from Alabama raised by a single mother from a working class background. And I think in a lot of ways, my story is what this country is about and should be about,” Cox said in an interview Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of strife going on in the world right now, particularly (for) the folks in Ferguson, Missouri – sending love to them – that I think we need a sense of hope and possibility,” she added. “We need a lot of love and I hope my story inspires people.”
Cox is one of the stars of Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” which recently debuted its second season. The breakthrough show received 12 Primetime Emmy nominations, including outstanding comedy series. Winners will be announced Monday. The series won three honors at the creative arts Emmy ceremony last week, including best guest actress in a comedy series for Uzo Aduba, who beat Cox.
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Cox said she is currently filming the third season, and revealed the plot about women behind bars thickens.
“I can’t tell you who I had scenes with … (but) the scene we shot today was juicy. I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ Stuff goes down,” she said. “I’m so excited about this show and like, these women are killing it. I finished my scene and I waited and watched the monitor like, ‘Oh! Oh! Werk!'”
Cox said she will have a role on the upcoming Bravo series “Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce,” which premieres Dec. 2. The former reality star says since the success of “Orange” she’s getting more calls.
“There’s some things on the horizon,” she said. “There have been some wonderful offers.”
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