There’s been so much going on in Laverne Cox’s life — both personally and professionally — that it was only right she came to sit down for a candid chat on REVOLT’s “The Jason Lee Show.”
For its sixth episode, HU Founder Jason Lee sits down for an almost three-hour-long interview as the two dive deep on topics including transphobia in the Black community, Cox getting her breakthrough after landing a starring role on “Orange Is The New Black,” and being the first trans woman to have a Barbie doll created after her by Mattel.
While the 50-year-old, who was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, had been acting well throughout the ‘90s, Cox initially saw herself pursuing a career in writing after studying at the Alabama School of Fien Arts in Birmingham.
From there, her interests shifted over to dance before realizing that acting was something that may have been her true passion all along — particularly after her brother for her to take that career path seriously.
“My brother was like, ‘You’re an actor,’” Cox recalled. “Acting is actually what you should be doing. He saw it for me as an actor before I saw it for myself. And that’s why I’m here, because I’m an actor, but I’ve had to work really hard at my craft.”
She began taking acting classes which helped her not only become better at delivering her performances but also overcome the trauma she endured growing up. “There were a lot of blocks I had to get through, to get to who I am and that’s an ongoing process. But, I was finally able to.”
About a decade ago, when auditions were being held for the role of Sophia Burset on Netflix’s “Orange Is The New Black,” Cox recounted feeling “prepared” for the role because of the time and effort she had spent working on channeling the characters to the best of her ability.
Allowing herself to conquer her deep-rooted trauma from her childhood and teen years had ultimately allowed her to challenge herself with what was bound to become one of her biggest opportunities to date.
“I’m really grateful that it happened [landing the part] when I was over 40, because I couldn’t have handled it younger.” Lee then diverts the interview back to getting to know more about Cox’s upbringing in Alabama, where she was raised by a single mother juggling taking care of two children, including her brother, M Lamar.
Cox appeared a little hesitant to get deep into her childhood years, but she did speak on her father, whom she refers to as the “sperm donor,” who has since died.
“We met once,” she said while touching on the relationship they shared. “He’s passed away now, and I only met him once. He never claimed us. It’s a messy, complicated story, that’s my mother’s business and for her to tell.”
She continued, “And when people always sort of deride single mothers, saying, ‘We need to get rid of single mothers,’ I’m like, ‘Single mothers, particularly in the Black community, have held up our community for centuries — and I think I turned out really well.”
In correlation to her views about the Black community, Cox shared her experience of how she’s been treated by Black people who know that she’s a transgender woman.
She boldly admits that most of the transphobia she has received over the years has predominantly been from her own kind but stressed that she doesn’t think Black people are more homophobic than other races.
But because she is Black herself, “we get it from the people we’re closed to,” Cox explained. “And often times, we marginalize each other.” Despite what community most of the homophobia she has gotten has derived from, Cox believes that it’s an issue not just with the Black community but with the world. “We see all this anti trans legislation right now that’s passed by like white folks, so we need to be clear on that,” she added.
As for why she believes Black people have been so critically opinionated about the way she chooses to live her life, Cox believes that people of color have been emasculated by white supremacy, mentioning slavery and lynchings as prime examples.
“So there is this whole simultaneous fear of black masculinity and black male sexuality, and this desire to kind off emasculate that.”
Also in the interview, Cox surprised Lee with a gift of her Barbie doll created by Mattel. As we previously reported back in May 2022, the “Doubt” star made history after becoming the first transgender to have a Barbie based on her. The doll features the actress in a red gown over a sparkly catsuit and was priced at $40 after going on sale last year.
Catch the full interview on REVOLT TV on Tuesday at 10 PM EST and Wednesday on YouTube’s REVOLT at 5 PM EST!