"I've literally played a prostitute about seven times," actress Laverne Cox says, and her reel confirms it. From Law & Order to Bored to Death, it's easy to see that Cox, a black transsexual woman, has come up against some disturbing typecasting, a fact she's quick to point out. "In reality, yes, trans women do sex work, but the problem is that we don't all do sex work. There are trans women who are doctors, and lawyers, and nurses, and mothers, and sisters, and convicts."

That last mention isn't happenstance. Cox, a former reality star (I Want to Work for Diddy), has a breakout role in the new original Nexflix dramedy Orange Is the New Black, from Weeds creator Jenji Kohan. The highly anticipated show, based on Piper Kerman's memoir, is set in a women's prison and was renewed for a second season before it even premiered.

Cox, who shares an acting coach with Nicole Kidman, plays Sophia, a trans woman who, pre-transition, was a firefighter. In the third episode, guest-directed by Jodie Foster, we learn about her complicated relationship with her wife and son. "I don't know of a trans character on television played by a trans person that has as much humanity as this character," Cox says. It's true. Generally, trans folks are portrayed as tragic or heroic, but Sophia is multidimensional and complex, part hard-won confidence, part sweet underbelly.

In one flashback scene, we see Sophia's wife help her into a dress early on in her transition, and the pained tenderness when they kiss is palpable (Cox says Foster was so moved by the scene that she came out behind the camera with tears in her eyes). Later, when Sophia is cut off estrogen in prison for bullshit bureaucratic reasons, her panic — over not only the hair appearing on her chin, but also the serious medical issue of not having any hormone production in her body — is a nuanced portrayal of a pretty universal fear for trans people who take hormones, but one rarely discussed outside our communities.

We also see Sophia get misgendered — a lot, sometimes pointedly by the inmates, and sometimes by confused salesclerks in the flashback scenes. Cox put a lot of heart into those moments. "It's not unusual for me to walk down the street and have someone yell, 'That's a man,'" she says. "I transitioned 15 years ago, I've gotten a pretty thick skin, but there's a part that just hurts. If someone looks at me and doesn't see me, it's hurtful. As an actor I can actually experience the hurt of it, that's why acting is so healing for me."