Mya Taylor (born March 28, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Alexandra in the 2015 film ''

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

'' for which she won the

Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female The Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female was an award presented annually by Film Independent. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an absolutely outstanding performance in a supporting role while working in an indepen ...

Early life

Mya Taylor was born on March 28, 1991, in Houston, Texas. She was raised by her Christian grandparents, who at first did not know that she had come out as gay (pre-transition) in school. In 2009, she came out to them, which led to a lot of tension in the home. Taylor left and moved to California in May 2009 to live with another relative, but her gender identity led that relative to kick her out on the street. Unable to secure legal employment at the age of 18, she worked as a sex worker in Hollywood. She began going to therapy, and it was in her talks with her therapist that she decided that she was going to be true to herself. In January 2013, she came out as transgender. She has since reconnected with her mother, who coined her name, Mya. She lived in an apartment with her eventual ''

'' co-star Kitana Kiki Rodriguez. It was at the age of 23, after five years of sex work and after four arrests for prostitution, Mya was approached by director Sean Baker and his co-screenwriter Chris Bergoch as she stood in the yard of Los Angeles' LGBT Center to star in their film ''

''.

Career

Taylor is best known for her role as Alexandra in Sean Baker's 2015 film ''

''. The first Academy Award campaigns for openly transgender actresses supported by a film producer were launched for Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez for the film. Taylor won the

Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor The Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. It was first awarded in 1998, with Sonja Sohn and Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapp ...

for her performance in that film, making her the first openly transgender actress to win a Gotham Award. She also won the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress and the

for the film. She was the first openly transgender actor to win an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

. In 2016 it was announced that

ICM Partners ICM Partners is a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C. and London. ICM (International Creative Management) Partners represents clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publi ...

signed Taylor and agreed to represent her for film and television acting and producing projects. Taylor played

Marsha P. Johnson Marsha P. Johnson (August 24, 1945 – July 6, 1992) also known as Malcolm Michaels Jr., was an American gay liberation''I've been involved in gay liberation ever since it first started in 1969'', 15:20 into the interview, Johnson is quoted as ...

in Reina Gosset and Sasha Wortzel's 2016 short film ''

Happy Birthday, Marsha! ''Happy Birthday, Marsha!'' is a fictional short film that imagines the gay and transgender rights pioneers Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera in the hours that led up to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. The film stars Mya Taylor as J ...

'' She is also in the 2016 short film ''Diane from the Moon''. In December 2017, it was announced Taylor had been cast in '' Dietland''. It began airing on June 4, 2018, on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Mya 1991 births 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from Houston Actresses from North Dakota African-American actresses Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female winners LGBT African Americans LGBT Christians American LGBT actors LGBT people from North Dakota LGBT people from Texas People from Jamestown, North Dakota Transgender actresses Transgender women 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people