Interview | Orange Is the New Black’s Laverne Cox talks LGBT characters and equal marriage
Don’t be under any illusions, as transgender prsion inmate Sophia Burset on hit Netflix comedy-drama Orange Is the New Black, Laverne Cox has sealed her place in history – not least for becoming the the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category.
With season three out on DVD and Blu-ray Next Monday (May 16) and season four just around the corner, the 31-year-old discusses what the latest season three had in store for her character, whether she relates Litchfield Penitentiary’s fraudulent felon, and as blockbuster season takes hold, reveals which superhero character she’d love to play herself…
What’s Sophia’s journey like in the third season?
Her story definitely ramps up in the second half of the third season, but I don’t want to say too much for people who haven’t seen it yet. She’s negotiating motherhood and for anyone who’s a parent who’s incarcerated you want to be there for your kid. But Michael is growing up and he doesn’t need a second mum, he needs a father figure – so she’s trying to be that for him. I had the best time playing Sophia this season and the show has gotten better than ever.
Why do you think there are more LGBT characters on television than there are in movies?
Sometimes it’s just the way the business goes and it’s tricky to get movies made now. There are independent films with trans characters but the movie industry is in a different place with big stars and 3D and superheroes and all that stuff. TV is more character-driven and more story-driven and more about pushing boundaries in terms of story.
Would you like to headline your own superhero movie?
Hell yeah! Fans have made drawings of me as Wonder Woman – just Google it, it’s all out there – and Storm. I’ll take either of those.
We hear that creator Jenji Kohan has a ‘No assholes’ policy on set…
That’s true and there are no assholes on this show. We’ve all been on some sets where it’s messy and there are assholes. Very few of those moments have happened in my career and it usually starts at the top.
The show celebrates all shapes, sizes, races and sexualities, doesn’t it?
Yes and I’m so grateful to be on a show where the casting directors intentionally think outside the box about who they’re gonna cast. The diversity is real and beautiful.
How similar to the character are you?
[Laughs] Well, I’d totally do my make-up differently to how they do it for Sophia on the show. My hair would be different. And I love having a character that’s really different from me because it stretches me and it challenges me. You have to be very specific and make specific choices. Her emotional life is mine, though. She doesn’t walk the way I walk or talk the way I talk but our emotions are very similar.
What are your views on the increased acceptance of gay marriage?
I think it’s beautiful. I personally have no desire to get married but people who want to get married should be able to. In the United States marriage is about immigration and health insurance and tax breaks and visitation in hospitals. In terms of the law there are all these legal protections that unmarried people in same-sex relationships are not able to enjoy. Beyond the religious or the love part of it, it is a contract that everyone should have access to. It’s always wonderful when we’re able to enjoy the freedoms that everyone else has.
Orange is the New Black season three is out on DVD and Blu-ray next Monday (May 16).
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