Trace Lysette
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Trace Lysette (born 2 October 1981) is an American actress whose most notable roles include Shea in the television series '' Transparent'' (2014–2019) and Tracey in the feature film '' Hustlers'' (2019). As a trans actress, she also featured in the
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documentary ''
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'' as herself.


Early life

Lysette was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in and around Dayton, Ohio. In her late teens, Lysette was a track athlete and performed as a
drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...
in bars and clubs in
Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
and
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
. She moved to New York City after high school in search of opportunities. Lysette was estranged from her biological family and struggled financially due to her
gender transition Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, providing impro ...
, which led her to seek acceptance in the underground New York ball culture scene, of which she has been a member since young adulthood. Lysette began training as an actor in New York City, studying at various acting studios starting in 2007. Her television debut was a guest appearance as Lila in an episode of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' in 2013, making her one of the first transgender people to appear in a
cisgender The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...
speaking role on primetime television in the US.


Career

After working in non-transgender roles, Lysette
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...
publicly as trans through her role as Shea on the Amazon series '' Transparent'', which debuted in 2014. On the show, she plays a transgender yoga teacher and friend of Maura Pfefferman (
Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American retired actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank ...
). Lysette originally auditioned for the role of Davina. The third season of ''Transparent'' contains a storyline in which Shea has a romantic relationship with a cisgender heterosexual man, which has been called "a groundbreaking TV moment for a trans character." Lysette was an unpaid consultant for the 2015 film ''
The Danish Girl ''The Danish Girl'' is a novel by American writer David Ebershoff, published in 2000 by the Viking Press in the United States and Allen & Unwin in Australia. The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Lili Elbe, one of the first tra ...
''. Lysette made her major feature debut in 2019 starring alongside
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...
and Constance Wu among others in the critically acclaimed box office hit ''Hustlers.'' She has also appeared in guest roles in shows such as '' Blunt Talk'', ''
David Makes Man ''David Makes Man'' is an American coming-of-age drama television series that premiered on August 14, 2019, on OWN. In December 2019, OWN renewed the series for a second season which premiered on June 22, 2021. Premise ''David Makes Man'' follo ...
'', '' Midnight, Texas'', '' Pose'' and ''
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''. She also made an appearance in
Caitlyn Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner, October 28, 1949), formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yell ...
's documentary series '' I Am Cait''. Additionally, she has appeared as a muse in several high-profile music videos for artists such as
Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...
,
Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...
,
Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Taylor (born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model, dancer, choreographer, and music video director. After choreographing the video for Beyoncé's 2006 single " Ring the Alarm," she signed ...
,
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, and
Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBTQ advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series '' Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a ...
. In 2017, transgender actors and actresses including Lysette (with the help of
GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...
and ScreenCrush) were part of a filmed letter to Hollywood written by Jen Richards, asking for more and improved roles for transgender people. In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ
Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...
, ''
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'' named her among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people". An article published in July 2020 by ''Variety'' revealed that Lysette had signed on as an Executive Producer of '' Trans in Trumpland'', a documentary series about being
transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
in the Trump Administration era. In 2021, Lysette released her first single, "SMB", which she described as a hip hop track. She also featured on Cazwell's single, “Taser in My Telfar Bag,” with Chanel Jole. She hosted '' Harsh Reality: The Story of Miriam Rivera'', a podcast re-examining the 2004 dating show, '' There's Something About Miriam''. The first episode of the eight episode series was released on iTunes on November 29, 2021. Lysette played the title character in the film ''Monica'', completed in 2022 and released in 2023. She was nominated for a Best Lead Performance Independent Spirit Award for her role.


Personal life

Lysette has spoken at various events and colleges across the country, including Women’s March Las Vegas, and Out & Equal in Philadelphia, about her experiences in hopes of highlighting the injustices that members of the trans community face. In 2017, she recorded an online PSA with Trevor Project dedicated to suicide prevention awareness for LGBTQ youth. In 2018, Lysette commented on Twitter about actress
Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The List of highest-paid film actors, world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100, ''F ...
’s decision to accept the role of a transgender man Dante "Tex" Gill in crime drama ''Rub & Tug'', stating that opportunities for trans actors were already so limited. Johansson eventually withdrew from the role. Although Lysette was estranged from her family for a period of time when she transitioned, her mother later became supportive. She has stated publicly that her mother has since “come full circle“, fully accepts her now, and “is her biggest cheerleader.” Lysette started her
gender transition Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, providing impro ...
in 2002.


Sexual harassment

In 2017, Lysette claimed that she had experienced sexual harassment from her ''Transparent'' co-star
Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American retired actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank ...
, a week after Tambor's former assistant Van Barnes made similar allegations. Two more women, Rain Valdez and Tamara Delbridge, followed with allegations too. In response, Tambor issued a statement denying the allegations of all the women. Showrunner
Joey Soloway Joey Soloway (born Jill Soloway; September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series '' Transparent'', winnin ...
published a statement expressing "great respect and admiration for Van Barnes and Trace Lysette, whose courage in speaking out about their experience on ''Transparent'' is an example of the leadership this moment in our culture requires." In 2018, after an extensive internal investigation by Amazon, the show's producers confirmed that Tambor would not be returning to the show.


Filmography


Film


Television


Web


Music videos


As lead artist


Guest appearances


Awards and Nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lysette, Trace Living people LGBTQ people from Ohio 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Dayton, Ohio Actresses from Columbus, Ohio American television actresses American transgender actresses American LGBTQ rappers LGBTQ people from Kentucky Actresses from Lexington, Kentucky Transgender rappers 1987 births Transgender women singers 21st-century American LGBTQ people