Trace Lysette

Trace Lysette is an American actress. She plays Shea on the Amazon Video web television series Transparent (2014–present). Lysette is a transgender woman, and one of the first trans people to appear as a non-transgender person on prime time television in a speaking role. Early life In her late teens, Lysette was a track athlete and performed as a showgirl in bars around her native Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. She worked as a hairstylist and makeup artist before beginning her acting career. Her television debut was a guest appearance in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as 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 chose to come out during her audition for the Amazon series Transparent. On the show, she plays Shea, a transgender yoga teacher and friend of Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor). After Lysette originally auditioned for the role of Davina, Transparent creator Jill Soloway wrote the role of Shea for her. 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." She has also appeared in guest roles in shows such as Blunt Talk and Drunk History. She also made an appearance in the documentary series I Am Cait. 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.