Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox is a three time Emmy-nominated American actress best known for her role as Sophia Burset on the hit Netflix series Orange is The New Black. She is also the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Emmy Award in any acting category.

Born in Mobile, Alabama, Laverne has a twin brother, Reginald, who is a composer/artist known as M. Lamar, who identifies as queer. Reginald made a cameo in Orange is The New Black as a pre-transition version of Laverne's character, Sophia Burset.

Laverne graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts, where she studied creative writing, before she switched to dance. It wasn't until she went to school in New York City that she decided to pursue a career in acting.

Laverne made her television acting debut in 2008, appearing on an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Minor roles on other television series followed, including an appearance on episodes of Law and Order (2009) and Bored to Death (2009).

In 2013, she landed the role of Sophia Burset on Orange is The New Black, which wound up being her breakout role, earning the show multiple awards and nominations across many award shows, and four Emmy nominations for her individual performance.

She also received a Daytime Emmy Award in 2015 as a producer for her documentary Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word.

Laverne has been very active in the LGBTQ+ community, and has earned awards and recognition related to her cause. ~Sean Olegario

Filmography:

Promising Young Woman (2020)
Bad Hair (2020)
Charlie's Angels (2019)
Can You Keep a Secret? (2019)
Dear White People (2019)
Tuca & Bertie (2019)
Freak Show (2017)
Grandma (2015)
Grand Street (2014)
36 Saints (2013)
The Exhibitionists (2012)
Musical Chairs (2011)
Carl[a] (2011)
Bronx Paradise (2010)
Uncle Stephanie (2009)
The Kings of Brooklyn (2004)