Trace Lysette

I have lived my life putting work first, pushing myself to overcome obstacles to get the job done.

I always found when I was most focused, that's when I did the best financially.

Sometimes you feel like the only resource you have is your body or your looks.

I gave up my bread and butter to be an actress.

Trans women, and women in general, have so many constraints placed on our bodies. As women, we are told not to show our bodies, and as trans people, we've been told not to exist.

My body has carried me a long way and has had many evolutions. I honor it, flaws and all.

It felt like home to be working with so many powerful women - Lizzo, Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu. I felt so welcome and loved.

Trans women should be accepted and celebrated, whether they look a little bit more on the masculine side of the spectrum or they're the femme of all fems.

I'm not getting into rooms for cis roles. I started my career auditioning for those roles, and then I went to play trans roles. And now, I feel boxed in.

I used to watch 'Star Trek' on weeknights as a kid while I did my homework for school.

Trans talent is not even making it into the audition room, and we're not even being afforded the opportunity to tell our own stories. I feel that is problematic.

Trans folk are so often pushed to the margins and not afforded the resources and opportunities that some nontrans people are.

Anytime you give a trans person an opportunity, especially an opportunity to be ourselves, you are promoting a shift in the way society sees us.

I think that a lot of times people don't understand the bravery that's involved with the Me Too movement.

Growing up, I never saw images of trans people succeeding.

I recall the magic being on set for season one of 'Transparent.' The trans inclusivity of our set was unparalleled at the time.

As a trans woman, I have always had to rise up and take the high road.

I'm loving the fact that Hollywood is telling trans stories.

I think I had something to prove to myself, that I could book a cis role and then if I did come out one day and start auditioning for trans roles, I could say, 'Look, I've already worked in a cis role.'

That is the next step for out trans actors - to just be treated as actors and not 'trans actors.'

How will I become Meryl Streep if I can't even get in the door with Jennifer Lawrence for the same role? I think that it starts with casting directors and executives and studio heads opening up their minds, and really putting an effort into being trans inclusive in their projects, whether they're trans-specific or not.

A lot of my chosen family is black and I say that unabashedly. For anyone who doesn't understand that, they just don't understand me and my generation because especially in the LGBT community, the concept of chosen family is so important and it's a survival tactic.

When we get to a point when trans folks are included in the creative process, the narrative will be much more authentic. Trans actors playing trans roles is a key part of that. But some of the trans talent is not even making it into the audition room, let's be honest.

You wish that everyone knew what cisgender meant. Everyone has access to Google. You can find out what's appropriate to ask a trans person.

As much of a privilege as it is to pass, it's painful. You have to compartmentalize your life. That's awkward. Dating can be horrible.

Transparent' was my coming-out party.

We have to be intentional with including trans women, all women, all marginalized people. Whether we say 'Me Too' or call ourselves feminists or strive to create a diverse workplace that reflects the world we live in, it's all about being intentional.

I got to choreograph a halftime dance with the cheerleading squad, which was all-female, at my high school. And I was the only boy, at the time. We did this whole routine to 'Maria Maria' by Santana, and 'Thong Song' by Sisqo - it was a mix.

Drag was not only my introduction to womanhood, but my introduction to entertainment. It was the first time I realized that I could move a crowd.

My own experience of dating cis-hetero men has really been a challenge, because of the stigma they have to endure for attempting to love us.

I had a lot of fights in high school.

I feel like if Hollywood can stretch for inclusion and intersectionality, and being intentional with its intersectionality, that that can ripple out past Hollywood into whatever industry and kind of affect society as a whole.

Everyone has a voice. I mean, that's the good side to the Internet Age and social media. Obviously, there's negatives to it, but I think that the fact that everyone has a voice now is a tool that we can use for good.

It's not fun for an actor to be pigeonholed in any way.

Oftentimes, I feel like, because of my cisnormative look or my aesthetics, that sometimes my talent might get overlooked.

I think it's really important to understand that every trans story is not the same, and we are as varied as any other group of people.

I don't have shame around where I've been or what I've done to survive to get to where I'm at in my life. When you don't have shame around something, it can't hurt you.

I think that trans women have endured a lot and they compromise a lot when dealing with cis hetero men.

Trans women are conditioned to accept that society sees us as overly sexualized objects - even more so than how society already sexualizes cis women. It's almost as if they don't see us as fully developed human beings.

I lived what we call 'stealth' for a number of years. Even when I started acting in the industry, I didn't disclose. I didn't come out. My first job on 'Law & Order' was not a trans role.

It's important to be transparent, to remove secrecy from issues of equality.

Going to meetings for Time's Up has been deeply affirming for me.

Now that I'm out there and it's known that I'm trans, I think that sometimes might hinder my opportunity in snagging a big cis role.

It was a dream of mine to be in an action film.

It's tough advocating for trans visibility and not being pigeonholed as just a trans actress.

How often do we get to see trans people interacting with each other onscreen? We have friends. Hello? We're people. We're not just this isolated unit all the time. I would like to see us carry a project.

Trans women are women, we're just a different type of women.

In my own personal life, it's been pretty hard navigating love, and so I've found this kind of contentment in loving myself and waiting for the world to catch up.

I'm not going to compromise and settle for what I feel is less than I deserve or less than anyone deserves.

Transparent' does a good job of pushing the envelope in a real way, not in a sensational or salacious way.