Trace Lysette

Trace Lysette is an American actress best known for her roles as Shea on the Amazon Video web television series Transparent and Tracey in the crime drama Hustlers. Lysette is one of the first trans people to appear as a non-transgender person on prime time television in a speaking role.

Lysette’s television debut was a guest appearance in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where she appeared as the first trans person in a non trans speaking role on primetime television. She has also appeared in guest roles in shows such as Blunt Talk, Drunk History, and the documentary series I Am Cait.

After working in non-transgender roles, Lysette chose to come out during her audition for the Amazon series Transparent. Her role, a transgender yoga teacher named Shea, was written specifically for Lysette by Transparent creator Jill Soloway. The third season 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."

Most recently, Lysette appeared in Hustlers, a crime saga starring Jennifer Lopez, released in September 2019. Lysette has openly discussed how her past as an exotic dancer informed her role in the film.

In 2017, Lysette publicly accused Jeffrey Tambor, her former Transparent co-star, of sexual harrassment on set. Following an internal investigation, Amazon announced that Tambor would not be returning to the show. While Tambor was ultimately fired, Lysette stated that an accusation from a trangender actress “doesn't really carry the same weight as cis women."

That same year, Lysette, along with many other transgender actors and actresses, took part in a filmed letter to Hollywood, which asked for more and improved roles for transgender people. Today, she actively works to increase representation of transgender actors in the media and share the importance of trans visibility.