When Laverne Cox originated the role of Sophia Burset on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black in 2013 and then a year later made history as the first trans performer nominated for an Emmy in any acting category, she didn't realize her very presence in Hollywood would outshine the many characters she'd go on to portray.
For the next decade, during which she scored three more Emmy noms as Sophia, her appearances in The Mindy Project, Inventing Anna, The Blacklist and the film Promising Young Woman would play in the background of Cox's advocacy for trans visibility. This year, with a new administration in the White House, she's resolute in her commitment to advancing LGBTQ representation on-screen.
"I'm grateful, especially in this historic moment when trans issues are so front and center — with so few trans people being allowed into those conversations — that representation still matters," she says from her Manhattan home. "Even as attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion [continue], our stories matter still."
For the foreseeable future, Cox won't have a problem being visible. Her latest series, Clean Slate, is now streaming all eight episodes on Prime Video. The comedy follows a Mobile, Alabama–raised son who returns to live in their childhood home as Desiree Slate, a citified daughter who's now comfortable in her own skin. Comic legend George Wallace (Unfrosted) plays Desiree's curmudgeonly father, whose initial shock quickly gives way to warm acceptance, with plenty of wisecracks and timely lessons about identity politics.
Clean Slate gives Cox her first leading role in a series, but the triumph is bittersweet, as it's the last show from legendary producer and progressive activist Norman Lear, who died in 2023 at age 101.
"There's a lot of my life in this show, and after Norman Lear read the script, he said, 'I learned so much in the past hour about life that I should have known but didn't,'" says Cox, who, like Lear, serves as an executive producer. "He was so amazed that he didn't know these things about the everyday experiences of being a trans person — like walking down the street or trying to find a relationship or a job."
Those storylines take center stage as Desiree, broke and single, readjusts to her small-town home. Being trans is the least of her problems. And that's just how Cox likes living her life off-screen.
"I'm trans, but I don't wake up every day thinking about my transness," the performer and activist says with a laugh. "I live my life with my friends and my family, and stuff happens. In some ways, my transness is one of the least interesting things about me."
Clean Slate is now streaming on Prime Video.
This article originally appeared in emmy Magazine, issue #1, 2025, under the title "The Prodigal Daughter."
