Trace Lysette is an American actress. She plays Shea on the Amazon Video web television series Transparent (2014-present). Lysette is a transgender woman, and one of the first trans people to appear as a non-trans person on prime time television in a speaking role.
Video Trace Lysette
Early life
In her late teens Lysette was a track athlete and performed as a drag queen in bars around her native Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. She worked as a hairstylist and makeup artist before beginning an acting career. Her television debut was a guest appearance in an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit as one of the first trans people to occur in a non trans speaking role on primetime television.
Maps Trace Lysette
Career
After working in non-trans roles, Lysette chose to come out during her audition for the Amazon series Transparent. On the show, she plays Shea, a transgender yoga teacher and friend of Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor). After originally auditioning for the role of Davina, Transparent creator wrote the role of Shea for Lysette. The third season of Transparent contains a storyline in which Shea has a romantic relationship with a heterosexual man, which has been called "a groundbreaking TV moment for a trans character."
She has also appeared in guest roles in shows such as Blunt Talk and Drunk History. She also made an appearance in the documentary series I Am Cait.
In 2017, transgender actors and actresses including Lysette (with the help of GLAAD and ScreenCrush) were part of a filmed letter to Hollywood written by Jen Richards, asking for more and improved roles for transgender people.
Personal life
Before becoming an actress, Lysette had experience in the sex work industry. In an interview with The A.V. Club, she spoke about her experiences, stating "In the past, I've talked about my experience with survival sex work, and also with dancing in gentleman's clubs to pay for acting classes and make all my auditions when I was pounding the pavement all those years in New York City."
Jeffrey Tambor announced that he would leave his role on Transparent after fellow cast members Lysette and Van Barnes accused him of sexual harassment.
Filmography
Television
References
External links
- Trace Lysette on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
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