Laverne Cox

He had been a member of Shalimar.

Girl, okay, so you are my generation.

You know Cherry Wine.

That's a deep cut, girl.

Yes.

Yeah, I don't know what Cherry Wine is either.

But he was a queen on Soul Train.

These were the people you were watching.

But the 80s was so wonderful in that way.

I always knew that I would transition to acting because dancers have a short shelf life.

And so I imagined musical theater and Broadway and then film and television is what I thought.

And I thought I would maybe be in the course or something.

But I could never book roles as a dancer when I auditioned for things.

And I remember the year before I moved to New York, I was at Indiana University.

And every year I auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry because there were always auditions and regional auditions wherever I was.

And that year, I remember the dance captain asking me to show the other – because I picked up the choreography quickly.

She asked me to show the choreography to the other dancers.

People auditioning.

And I was just like, oh, maybe this means I'm finally going to get the job.

And I didn't get it that year.