00:00Well, I've always been kind of a showboat.
00:06I wanted to be an actor and a performer
00:09and a singer and a dancer and do it all.
00:21A lot of times, what we want to do is close ourself off,
00:25sit in a room, and start the transition that way.
00:29It's a lonely place to be.
00:33I realized that if I was going to perform and transition,
00:38that I had to do it on stage in front of an audience.
00:44New York in 91 was a magical, crazy place.
00:49There were so many people like me,
00:51so many people that had left their small towns
00:55to go to some place where they felt comfortable to be.
00:59I felt at home there.
01:02But I knew that it was nearly impossible to be an actress.
01:09The first part of my career was doing prostitute roles,
01:14drug addict roles, or drag queen roles.
01:19I would go to these auditions, and I would say I'm trans.
01:24Tried to, you know, pitch myself, you know,
01:28even though nobody really wanted to talk about it.
01:30It wasn't until I got a call from this new television show,
01:36Dirty Sexy Money.
01:38I had a really good audition, and they called me back.
01:42It was a really Meryl Streep moment.
01:44They had written this trans character,
01:47the major love interest for a lead on the show,
01:50and the character had heart.
01:54The trans community can be more than just a prostitute,
01:58or, you know, a drug addict, or a killer.
02:01There's been a lot of trans killers.
02:03This wasn't just about me wanting to be an actress.
02:08This was about moving the fabric of society forward.
02:12I'm giving myself goosebumps talking about it.
02:18You're not supposed to give yourself goosebumps.
02:20I'm giving myself goosebumps.
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