Trace Lysette

Trace Lysette
Born United States
Occupation Actress

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-transgender person on prime time television in a speaking role.

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 her acting career. Her television debut was a guest appearance in an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit[1] as one of the first trans people to occur in a non trans speaking role on primetime television.

Career

After working in non-transgender 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).[2] After Lysette originally auditioned for the role of Davina, Transparent creator Jill Soloway wrote the role of Shea for her.[3] 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."[3]

She has also appeared in guest roles in shows such as Blunt Talk and Drunk History.[4] 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.[5][6]

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."[2]

Jeffrey Tambor announced that he would leave his role on Transparent after fellow cast members Lysette and Van Barnes accused him of sexual harassment.[7]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Lila Episode: "Internal Affairs"
2014 Coffee House Chronicles Rachel Episode: "Tran-sitions"
2015 The Curse of the Fuentes Women Gloria TV movie
2014–present Transparent Shea 10 episodes
2015 I Am Cait Herself 3 episodes
2016 Drunk History Sylvia Rivera Episode: "Bar Fights"
2015–2016 Blunt Talk Gisele 3 episodes
2018 Pose Episode: Love is the Message

Music videos

Year Title Artist
2017 "Name For You" (Flipped) The Shins
2018 "Girls Like You" (featuring Cardi B) Maroon 5
"Girls Like You" (Vertical Video)
"SOS" Cher

References

  1. ↑ "GLAAD chats with Trace Lysette, star of Transparent and Blunt Talk". GLAAD. 2015-09-17. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
  2. 1 2 "Transparent's Trace Lysette on her personal connection to Shea's journey this season". 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
  3. 1 2 "'Transparent' Star on Josh and Shea's Groundbreaking Romance: "It's Just Boy Meets Girl"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
  4. ↑ Kellaway, Mitch (2015-04-15). "After Years of Hiding in Hollywood, Trans Actress Trace Lysette Is Finally 'Living Out Loud'". Advocate.com. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  5. ↑ "New Video Breaks Down Why Hollywood Needs Transgender Actors | HuffPost". Huffingtonpost.com. 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  6. ↑ Reynolds, Daniel. "Trans Actors Ask Hollywood for Roles With Dignity and Depth in Open Letter". Advocate.com. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  7. ↑ Patten, Dominic (November 19, 2017). "Jeffrey Tambor Exits 'Transparent' After Sexual Harassment Allegations". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
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