'Orange is the New Black' on Netflix / Interview with Laverne Cox [Sophia]: "I Get to Live Authentically Now" / Season 2 Renewal

Orange is the New Black is the hottest comedy-drama from Netflix since...well ever! Mainly set in prison in upstate New York, the series is filled with colorful characters. One of the stars to emerge from the Orange is the New Black cast is Laverne Cox. Cox plays Sophia, a transgender woman who supports her inmates.

Though the show is paying dividends, it hasn't been the easiest experience transforming into the transgender character.

'Your son will end up in New Orleans wearing a dress if we don't get him into therapy right away.'" Cox claims she hadn't met other transgender people before moving to college. "Through all the things - the difficulties of what it means to be who I am, I love myself. And I am so grateful that I get to live authentically now."

Not only does Cox play a black transgender is the show, her character is also a prostitute.

"When folks want to write a trans character, the first thing that they think of is sex work. And part of the reason is that the most visibility, really, that trans folk get is through sex work. And then there is also crazy unemployment rates among transgender people. It's like twice the national average. If you're a trans person of color, it's four times the national average. So, so often the only job opportunities presented for trans folks are in street economies, including sex work. Obviously there are lots of trans women who don't do sex work who have all kinds of professions."

Cox has been amazed by the impact her character has had on transgender and non-transgender people. In her interview with Tell Me More host Michael Martin, Cox talks about a woman who had an anti-transgender blog before seeing the show. Because of Sophia the woman changed her views on alternate lifestyles.