When CBS’s Doubt premieres this fall, it will be the first time in broadcast television history that a transgender actress has played a transgender series regular character. The character, Cameron Wirth, played by Laverne Cox, is a fierce Ivy League-educated lawyer. During the Television Critics Association summer press tour, Cox opened up about her character and the groundbreaking role.
“It’s wonderful to get to play a character like that. And to be a black transgender woman in that position on CBS feels really special,” Cox told reporters.
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Doubt follows a successful defense lawyer at a boutique firm who gets romantically involved with one of her clients, who may or may not be guilty of a violent crime. The pilot originally aired last season with different leads, but Cox was in that version as well.
The actress added that just being able to work has been a blessing, “I’m grateful to have a job as an actor, I was standing in housing court in New York City with an eviction notice from my apartment, and I’m happy to have a job. What’s exciting about (the character) Cameron and being on CBS is that I’m an avid TV watcher. A lot of people in my community watch TV and there weren’t people like me when I was growing up.”