LOS ANGELES — On the set of “Transparent,” a handful of actors dressed for a flashback scene on a 1930s ocean liner — cloche hats, woolen jackets, long skirts — crowd together on benches in a large wooden container perched atop a gimbal, a device that can simulate the rolling of a ship. Sitting cross-legged on a long table a few yards away, the director Jill Soloway, who created this Amazon series, quietly throws out a few suggestions to the gently swaying actors.

At first glance, the set, located in two soundstages on the Paramount Pictures lot here, feels like any other: Crew members in baggy shorts and sneakers mill around; writers and producers huddle in front of monitors.

But anyone familiar with the show — one that for the first time put a richly drawn transgender character at the center of the action — is aware that “Transparent” is anything but business as usual.

From the moment in early 2014 that Ms. Soloway got the green light from Amazon to write a full first season — which detailed the transition of Mort Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) to Maura, and its effect on her already neurotic family — Ms. Soloway, the series’ showrunner, sought to hire transgender and gender nonconforming staff wherever possible. (Gender nonconforming describes people who depart from conventional expectations of masculinity and femininity.) But when Amazon ordered a second season just after the first one was streamed last October to glowing reviews, Ms. Soloway, emboldened by her newfound job security, felt she needed to try harder when it came to increasing the pool of applicants.