Trace Lysette

Trace Lysette
Lysette at Hustlers premiere at the Toronto Film Festival 2019
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2013–present

Trace Lysette is an American actress and recording artist whose most notable roles include Shea in the television series Transparent (2014–2019) and Tracey in the feature film Hustlers (2019). She also featured in the Netflix documentary Disclosure as herself.^[1]

Early life[]

Lysette was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in and around Dayton, Ohio.^[2]

In her late teens, she was a track athlete^{[citation needed]} and performed as a showgirl in bars and clubs in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. She moved to New York City after high school in search of opportunities. Lysette was estranged from her biological family and fell on hard times due to her gender transition which led her to find acceptance and family elsewhere in the underground New York ball culture scene, of which she has been a respected member since young adulthood. She began her actor training in New York City, studying at various acting studios in 2007. Her television debut was a guest appearance as Lila in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2013,^[3] making her one of the first trans people to appear in a non trans speaking role on primetime television.

Career[]

After working in non-transgender roles, Lysette came out 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).^[4] Lysette originally auditioned for the role of Davina.^[5] 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."^[5]

Lysette made her major feature debut in 2019 starring alongside Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu among others in the critically acclaimed box office hit Hustlers. Lysette’s role in Hustlers is one of the first times a trans actor has starred in a major movie (not indie or foreign) alongside A-list celebs and is arguably the first time in history that an out trans actor has starred in a feature film by a major studio where the character was not specifically defined as trans in the film.^{[citation needed]}

She has also appeared in guest roles in shows such as Blunt Talk, David Makes Man, Midnight Texas, Pose, and Drunk History.^[6] She also made an appearance in Caitlyn Jenner'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,^[7] Cher,^[8] Teyana Taylor,^[9] The Shins, and Laverne Cox.

In 2017, transgender actors and actresses including Lysette (with the help of GLAAD and ScreenCrush) were part of a filmed letter to Hollywood written by Jen Richards, asking for more and improved roles for transgender people.^[10][11]

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.^[12][13] An article published in July 2020 by Variety revealed that Lysette had signed on as an Executive Producer of Trans in Trumpland, a forthcoming documentary series about being transgender in the Trump Administration era.^[14]

In 2021, Lysette released her first single, "SMB", which she described as a hip hop track.^[15] She also featured on Cazwell's single, “Taser in My Telfar Bag,” with Chanel Jole.^[16]

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 personal journey in hopes of shedding light on 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 2017, transgender actors and actresses including Lysette (with the help of GLAAD and ScreenCrush) were part of a filmed letter to Hollywood written by Jen Richards, asking for more and improved roles for transgender people.

In 2017, Lysette came forward and claimed that she had experienced sexual harassment from her Transparent co-star Jeffrey Tambor, a week after Tambor's former assistant Van Barnes made similar allegations. Two more women, Rain Valdez and Tamara Delbridge would also follow with more allegations.^[17][18] In response, Tambor issued a statement denying the allegations of all the women.^[18] Showrunner Joey Soloway 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.”^[19] In 2018, after an extensive internal investigation by Amazon, the show's producers confirmed that Tambor would not be returning to the show.^[20]

In 2018, Lysette commented on Twitter about actress Scarlett Johansson’s decision for accepting the role of a transgender man Dante "Tex" Gill in crime drama Rub & Tug.^[21] Stating that opportunities for trans actors were already so limited. Johansson eventually withdrew and apologized after widespread criticism from other members of the community including trans actress Jamie Clayton among many others.^[22][23][24]

Although Lysette was estranged from her family for a period of time when she transitioned, her mother later became supportive.^[2] She has stated publicly that her mother has since “come full circle“, fully accepts her now, and “is her biggest cheerleader.”^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Web[]

Music videos[]

References[]

External links[]

• Trace Lysette at IMDb