Who Is Llaverne Cox ?
Laverne Cox, born on May 29, 1972, is a prominent American actress and advocate for LGBT rights. She gained widespread recognition for her role as Sophia Burset on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black. Cox made history as the first transgender person to receive a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in an acting category, and the first to be nominated for an Emmy since composer Angela Morley in 1990. In 2015, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special as the executive producer of Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, becoming the first transgender woman to win this award. Additionally, in 2017, Cox made history as the first transgender person to play a transgender series regular on U.S. broadcast television, starring as Cameron Wirth on CBS's Doubt.
Cox also competed on the first season of VH1's reality show I Want to Work for Diddy and co-produced and co-hosted the VH1 makeover series TRANSform Me. In April 2014, she received the Stephen F. Kolzak Award from GLAAD for her advocacy work, and in June 2014, she became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine. She also made history as the first transgender person featured on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine's South African edition in February 2018. Additionally, Cox is the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds.
Early Life
Laverne Cox was born in Mobile, Alabama, and was raised by her single mother and grandmother within the AME Zion Church. She has an identical twin brother, M Lamar, who portrayed the pre-transitioning Sophia (as Marcus) on Orange Is the New Black. At the age of 11, Cox faced severe bullying and attempted suicide after realizing her feelings for male classmates and struggling with societal expectations of her gender.
Cox graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, where she initially focused on creative writing before switching to dance. She then spent two years at Indiana University Bloomington before transferring to Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, where she shifted her focus from classical ballet to acting. Additionally, she studied Fashion Merchandising Management at the Fashion Institute of Technology. During the first season of Orange Is the New Black, she continued to perform as a drag queen at a restaurant on the Lower East Side, where she had originally applied for a waitress position.
Career
Laverne Cox first gained attention as a contestant on the inaugural season of I Want to Work for Diddy. Following her appearance, VH1 approached her with ideas for new shows, leading to the creation of the makeover series TRANSform Me. This series marked Cox as the first African-American transgender person to both produce and star in her own TV show. Both I Want to Work for Diddy and TRANSform Me were nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program. When Diddy won the award in 2009, Cox accepted it on his behalf and delivered a speech praised by the San Francisco Sentinel as "among the most poignant," emphasizing the importance of sharing all stories. Additionally, Cox has acted in various TV shows and films, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Bored to Death, and Musical Chairs.
In 2013, Laverne Cox began her recurring role on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black as Sophia Burset, a trans woman incarcerated for credit card fraud. Cox remarked that the character of Sophia was crafted as a multi-dimensional figure, allowing audiences to empathize with a real transgender person. For transgender individuals seeking representation, seeing characters like Sophia becomes especially meaningful and impactful. Her role on the show also gave her a platform to advocate for transgender rights.
In January 2014, Cox appeared on Katie Couric's syndicated show Katie, alongside trans woman Carmen Carrera. During the episode, Couric used the term "transgenders" to refer to transgender people and pressed Carrera about her genital reconstruction surgery. When Couric directed the same question to Cox, Cox respond : "I do feel there is a preoccupation with that. The focus on transition and surgery objectifies trans people and distracts from discussing their real lived experiences. Trans people often face violence, discrimination, and higher unemployment rates compared to the general population, with even greater challenges for trans people of color. Focusing solely on transition prevents us from addressing these critical issues."
Couric's questioning was criticized by news outlets such as Salon, The Huffington Post, and Business Insider, with Salon writer Katie McDonough describing it as "clueless" and "invasive."
On June 9, 2014, Cox made history as the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine, featured in the article "The Transgender Tipping Point" by Katy Steinmetz.
Later in 2014, Cox became the first transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role as Sophia Burset on Orange Is the New Black. She also appeared in John Legend's music video for "You & I (Nobody in the World)."
Cox was active in advocating for trans rights in 2014, including campaigning against a controversial Phoenix law perceived to target transgender women of color and addressing issues faced by trans inmates. However, she later distanced herself from a video reading a letter from transgender inmate Synthia China Blast after learning of Blast's serious criminal convictions.
In late 2014, Cox was featured in the annual "Rebels" issue of V magazine and on the cover of the October issue of Essence magazine. She also executive-produced and narrated the documentary Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, which premiered on MTV and Logo.
In 2015, Cox won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special for Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, becoming the first transgender woman to win a Daytime Emmy as an Executive Producer. That year, she also posed nude for Allure magazine's annual "Nudes" issue, marking her as the first transgender actress to do so.
Cox was featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's June 11, 2015, issue dedicated to LGBTQ+ entertainment, the magazine's first issue focusing exclusively on this topic in 15 years.
In June 2016, Cox participated in a Human Rights Campaign video tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting, sharing stories of those who were killed.
In 2017, Laverne Cox began portraying transgender attorney Cameron Wirth on CBS's Doubt. However, after airing only two episodes, the series was pulled from the network's schedule due to low viewership, marking it the first official cancellation of the 2016–17 season. CBS later decided to air the remaining 11 episodes starting July 1.
Cox received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2017 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role on Orange Is the New Black.
Also in 2017, Cox collaborated with the ACLU, Zackary Drucker, Molly Crabapple, and Kim Boekbinder on the video "Time Marches Forward & So Do We," which she narrated. That year, she became one of the faces of the fall campaign for the Ivy Park clothing line.
In February 2019, Cox headlined the New York Fashion Week show for 11 Honoré, a luxury e-retailer specializing in plus-sized designer fashion. She also appeared in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video, released on June 17, 2019.
Cox made history again in September 2019 when she was featured on the cover of British Vogue, becoming the first transgender woman to appear on the magazine's cover. Additionally, she brought ACLU attorney Chase Strangio as her date to the 2019 Emmy Awards, carrying a custom rainbow clutch with references to the U.S. Supreme Court case R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Cox and Strangio discussed the case, which involved the firing of trans woman Aimee Stephens, on the red carpet.
On January 27, 2020, Cox's executive-produced documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen premiered on Netflix. In May 2021, E! announced that Cox would take over as host of Live from the Red Carpet starting in January 2022, succeeding Giuliana Rancic. Later, in December 2021, she was cast in Netflix's dystopian fantasy film The Uglies, directed by McG and based on Scott Westerfeld's book of the same name.
Keywods :
- laverne cox a man,
- who is laverne cox,
- is laverne cox a man,
- transgender,