{"id":5643,"date":"2026-06-24T13:21:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?p=5643"},"modified":"2026-06-24T14:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:24:27","slug":"laverne-cox-says-twin-had-regrets-playing-pre-transition-sophia-in-orange-isthe-new-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/06\/24\/laverne-cox-says-twin-had-regrets-playing-pre-transition-sophia-in-orange-isthe-new-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Laverne Cox says twin had ‘regrets’ playing pre-transition Sophia in Orange Is The New Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

Laverne Cox, who plays Sophia in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, has opened up about asking her twin brother to play her pre-transition.<\/p>\n

Iconic actress and activist Laverne Cox recently revealed how transphobia has affected her career in Hollywood. In an interview with The Guardian, she said her pay has shrunk significantly<\/a>, partially from restrictions in place around teaching acting classes for trans actors. She revealed this counts as “promoting trans ideology”, which is forbidden under Trump’s administration.<\/p>\n

\"\"
via Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Laverne is best known for her role as Sophia, the hairdresser at the prison, in Orange Is the New Black<\/a>. During her backstory scene, it’s revealed that Sophia is a trans woman<\/a>; however, pre-transition Sophia isn’t played by Laverne Cox. Instead, he’s played by M Lamar, her twin brother.<\/p>\n

It was my character’s backstory. And the initial idea was that they needed to hire another actor to play me pre-transition. \u2026 [And I] asked my brother if he’d be open to it. And he said, “How much does it pay?” And then he ended up going in for the audition, but he had an advantage because he kind of looks a little bit like me,” she explained in an interview with KUOW<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
via Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“So he booked it and did it, and he had regrets about it for a while because he has his own work and his own life and he wants to be defined by his work and not mine.”<\/p>\n

Their relationship has improved since their childhood, and they’ve found a common ground – music.<\/p>\n

“There’s a closeness now. It’s healthier now than it’s ever been with my brother. But… we were not a touchy-feely family. We weren’t a family that said, “I love you.” We weren’t a family that hugged. There was no affection. So my brother and I, so we didn’t do that. … But we bonded most around music, art. There were periods when I would be in dance class, and he would come and watch and critique, and he’d give me his notes.”<\/p>\n

For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes,\u00a0<\/i>like our Facebook page<\/a><\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Featured image via Netflix<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘He had regrets about it for a while’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[115,12],"coauthors":[30],"class_list":["post-5643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-lgbtq","tag-netflix"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLaverne Cox on twin playing Sophia in Orange Is The New Black<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Laverne Cox, who plays Sophia in Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, has opened up about asking her twin brother to play her pre-transition.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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