Trace Lysette
Lysette at Hustlers premiere at the Toronto Film Festival 2019
Born (1981-10-02) October 2, 1981 (age 42)
Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active2013–present

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 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, Lysette was a track athlete[citation needed] and performed as a drag queen 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 struggled financially due to her gender transition, 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,[3] making her one of the first trans people to appear in a cisgender speaking role on primetime television in the US.

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 was an unpaid consultant for the 2015 film The Danish Girl.[6]

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.

She has also appeared in guest roles in shows such as Blunt Talk, David Makes Man, Midnight, Texas, Pose and Drunk History.[7] 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,[8] Cher,[9] Teyana Taylor,[10] 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.[11][12]

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".[13][14] 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 in the Trump Administration era.[15]

In 2021, Lysette released her first single, "SMB", which she described as a hip hop track.[16] She also featured on Cazwell's single, “Taser in My Telfar Bag,” with Chanel Jole.[17] 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.[6]

Lysette played the title character in the film Monica, completed in 2022 and released in 2023.[18] She was nominated for a Best Lead Performance Independent Spirit Award for her role. [19]


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’s decision to accept the role of a transgender man Dante "Tex" Gill in crime drama Rub & Tug,[20] stating that opportunities for trans actors were already so limited. Johansson eventually withdrew from the role.[21][22][23]

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]

Sexual harassment

In 2017, Lysette 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, followed with allegations too.[24][25] In response, Tambor issued a statement denying the allegations of all the women.[25] 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."[26] In 2018, after an extensive internal investigation by Amazon, the show's producers confirmed that Tambor would not be returning to the show.[27]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Coffee House Chronicles: The Movie Rachel
2017 Deadbeat Ryan's Wife Short film
2019 Hustlers Tracey
2020 Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen Herself Documentary film
2021 Venus as a Boy Hendrix
2022 Monica Monica

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Lila Episode: "Internal Affairs"
2015 The Curse of the Fuentes Women Gloria Television film
2014–2019 Transparent Shea 11 episodes
2015 I Am Cait Herself 3 episodes
2015–2016 Blunt Talk Gisele 4 episodes
2016–2019 Drunk History Sylvia Rivera / Elizabeth Eden 2 episodes
2017 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself Episode: "Grand Finale"
2018–2019 Pose Tess Wintour 2 episodes
2018 Midnight, Texas Celeste Episode: "Drown the Sadness in Chardonnay"
2019 David Makes Man Femi Episode: "Dai Out"
2021 Q-Force Toluca Lake (voice) 2 episodes
2023 Quantum Leap Kate Episode: "Let Them Play"

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Coffee House Chronicles Rachel Episode: "Tran-sitions"

Music videos

As lead artist

Year Title Director(s) Ref.
2021 "SMB" Trace Lysette
Johnny Sibilly
"Taser in My Telfar Bag" (with Cazwell and Chanel Jole) Ariel Hernandez

Guest appearances

Year Title Artist(s) Ref.
2017 "Name for You" (Flipped) The Shins
2018 "Girls Like You" (Original, Volume 2 and Vertical Video versions) Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B [28][29][30]
"Beat for the Gods" Laverne Cox [31]
"SOS" Cher
2019 "WTP" Teyana Taylor [32]

Awards and Nominations

Award Year Category Work Result Ref.
GLAAD Media Award 2022 Outstanding TV Journalism – Long-Form Trans in Trumpland Nominated [33]
Independent Spirit Awards 2023 Best Lead Performance Monica Pending [34]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trace Lysette.

References

  1. ^ Cordero, Rosy (September 16, 2021). "'Transparent' Actress Trace Lysette Signs With Anonymous Content". Deadline. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "A very honest conversation with Transparent scene-stealer Trace Lysette". The FADER. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "GLAAD chats with Trace Lysette, star of Transparent and Blunt Talk". GLAAD. September 17, 2015. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  4. ^ "Transparent's Trace Lysette on her personal connection to Shea's journey this season". September 29, 2016. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "'Transparent' Star on Josh and Shea's Groundbreaking Romance: "It's Just Boy Meets Girl"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Trace Lysette on There's Something About Miriam and its painful legacy". PinkNews. December 31, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  7. ^ Kellaway, Mitch (April 15, 2015). "After Years of Hiding in Hollywood, Trans Actress Trace Lysette Is Finally 'Living Out Loud'". Advocate.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  8. ^ "Here are all the inspirational women in Maroon 5's Girls Like You". BBC News. June 1, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  9. ^ "Cher drops all-woman music video for SOS featuring trans actress Trace Lysette". PinkNews. September 18, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "13 Ballroom Notables Teyana Taylor Cast For Her "WTP" Video". www.out.com. January 24, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  11. ^ Curtis M. Wong (June 20, 2017). "New Video Breaks Down Why Hollywood Needs Transgender Actors". HuffPost. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  12. ^ Reynolds, Daniel (June 20, 2017). "Trans Actors Ask Hollywood for Roles With Dignity and Depth in Open Letter". Advocate.com. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  13. ^ "Queerty Pride50 2020 Honorees". Queerty. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  14. ^ Reddish, David (June 1, 2020). "Meet the world-class performers who are diversifying LGBTQ representation". Queerty. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  15. ^ Malkin, Marc (July 28, 2020). "Trace Lysette to Produce New Docuseries 'Trans in Trumpland' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  16. ^ Feeney, Nolan (February 19, 2021). "Trace Lysette on Debut Rap Single 'SMB': 'I Needed Another Outlet for My Artistry'". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  17. ^ "Trans Rappers Team Up for Blazing 'Taser in My Telfar Bag' Single". news.yahoo.com. November 12, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  18. ^ "'Transparent' Star Trace Lysette And Patricia Clarkson Play an Estranged Daughter and Mother Who Connect in 'Monica' – Watch U.S. Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. March 23, 2023. Archived from the original on May 11, 2023.
  19. ^ "'2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations: See the full list". EW. December 4, 2023. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023.
  20. ^ "Trans Actresses Trace Lysette and Jamie Clayton Slam Hollywood After Scarlett Johansson Cast in Transgender Role". Indiewire. July 4, 2018.
  21. ^ "Don't let Scarlett Johansson dropping out kill Hollywood's first trans studio film — Opinion". Salon. July 18, 2018.
  22. ^ "Scarlett Johansson drops out of transgender role after widespread criticism". Independent. July 13, 2018.
  23. ^ "Scarlett Johansson 'Rub & Tug' Debate Would Make Dante 'Tex' Gill Laugh". TheWrap. July 12, 2018.
  24. ^ Patten, Dominic (November 17, 2017). "Jeffrey Tambor Accused By 'Transparent' Actress Of Sexual Harassment; Actor Admits "Flaws," Says "Misinterpreted"". Deadline. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  25. ^ a b Sharf, Zack (November 17, 2017). "Jeffrey Tambor Accused of Sexual Harassment on 'Transparent' Set By Actress Trace Lysette". IndieWire. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  26. ^ Abramovitch, Seth (May 7, 2018). ""Lines Got Blurred": Jeffrey Tambor and an Up-Close Look at Harassment Claims on 'Transparent'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  27. ^ "Hustlers star Trace Lysette reveals the struggle that came after Transparent harassment claims". PinkNews. October 10, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  28. ^ Amatulli, Jenna (May 31, 2018). "Maroon 5, Cardi B's 'Girls Like You' Video Is a Star-Studded Dance Party". HuffPost. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  29. ^ Glicksman, Josh (October 16, 2018). "Maroon 5 Releases New Version of 'Girls Like You' Music Video: Watch". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  30. ^ "Maroon 5 – Girls Like You (Vertical Video) featuring Cardi B". Spotify. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  31. ^ "WATCH: Laverne Cox just took things to a new level with her debut single and video". Channel 24. February 26, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  32. ^ "Teyana Taylor Is a Voguing Cinderella in 'WTP'". PAPER. January 24, 2019. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  33. ^ "The Nominees for the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards". September 15, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  34. ^ Brent Lang, Jordan Moreau=date=December 5, 2023 (December 5, 2023). "Spirit Awards 2024 Nominations List". Retrieved December 5, 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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