The first black transgender woman to
appear on a reality show, VH1's I Want To Work For Diddy,
talks about her experience on the show and life since.
Laverne Cox shared her reality series
war wounds with Out.com, where she related her experience as
positive overall, but said the month-long, 24-7 filming was
physically and emotionally draining.
“None of us got a good night's
sleep,” Cox told Out's Tim Murphy. “I think the most I
got at one time was maybe four hours. And I slept less than everyone
because of my prep time in the morning. But I can kind of sleep
anywhere.”
“I was really in
the moment all the time, but there were moments when I was just like,
'Get that fucking camera off me'”
I Want To Work For Diddy pits
thirteen contestants for the opportunity to be media mogul Sean
'Diddy' Comb's personal assistant. The reality series takes its cues
from NBC's highly successful show The Apprentice where
billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump searches for fresh
talent to help him manage his companies. The twist in Work
is the fact that Diddy is
offering a hip-hop empire, not Park Avenue penthouses.
Cox says the show
has increased her celebrity profile: “I've been getting recognized
[since the show aired] a lot and people will call out my name, which
is weird. I pretty much get noticed anyway because I'm a tall black
transgendered woman, but now people are yelling out, 'Laverne'.”
A day job performing at a New York City
Lucky Cheng's – the Chinese restaurant chain notorious for its
campy, gender-bending reviews – helped her on the show when people
wanted her to be a hot tranny mess. “There's
something about being a clown a little bit, that's part of my job as
performer. I think you can be a clown at times and still be
intelligent and effective and complicated.”
Cox says she's back
at work at Lucky Cheng's while she continues searching for her big
acting break.