You’ve seen the flashbacks. If you watched Orange Is the New Black, you probably remember those jarring, emotional scenes where Sophia Burset—the prison’s resident hair stylist—appears as Marcus, a firefighter struggling with a secret. It’s a hauntingly effective piece of television. People see those scenes and immediately flock to Google to search for laverne cox as a man, assuming they’re looking at the actress herself in "boy mode" or heavy prosthetics.
Honestly? That’s not what happened at all.
There’s a massive misconception that Laverne Cox played her own pre-transition self. She didn't. In fact, she almost tried to, but the reality of the production was much more interesting—and a lot more personal.
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The Mystery of the Flashbacks
The show’s directors, including the legendary Jodie Foster, actually worried that Laverne couldn't "butch it up" enough to play a man convincingly. It sounds wild, right? Here is one of the most famous trans women in the world, and the directors are telling her she’s basically too feminine to play her former self.
Laverne actually joked about this later. She mentioned in interviews that while she can walk down the street and occasionally get harassed by people yelling transphobic slurs, Jodie Foster looked at her in a fake mustache and basically said, "Yeah, we need to hire a guy."
So, they did. But they didn't just hire any random actor. They hired her identical twin brother, M Lamar.
Who is M Lamar?
If you look at the screen during those Marcus scenes, you’re looking at M Lamar. He’s a brilliant, avant-garde musician and performer based in New York. He’s not really an actor by trade—he’s more of a "multimedia artist" who does Goth-inflected opera and heavy, conceptual art. Basically, he’s a creative powerhouse in his own right.
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The producers found out about him almost by accident. When they realized Laverne had a twin, the casting director insisted he audition. It was a perfect fit. It allowed the show to maintain a biological resemblance that felt "real" without forcing Laverne to revisit a version of herself that might have been deeply uncomfortable or even "scarring" to portray.
Growing Up in Alabama: The Real Story
To understand why the "laverne cox as a man" search is so frequent, you have to look at the life she actually lived before the world knew her name. Laverne was born in 1972 in Mobile, Alabama. It wasn't an easy place to be a "feminine" child assigned male at birth.
She’s been very open about the fact that she didn't see a difference between boys and girls when she was a kid. To her, she was just a girl. Period.
- Third Grade: Her teacher told her mother, "Your son is going to end up in New Orleans wearing a dress."
- The Fan Incident: She once bought a peacock fan at Six Flags, an act of "femininity" that led to a therapist visit.
- The Darkness: By age 11, the bullying and the internal conflict became so much that she attempted suicide by swallowing a bottle of pills.
She survived, obviously. But those early years weren't spent "being a man" in the way people might imagine. They were spent in a state of performance and survival.
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The Transition Years
By the time she hit college at Indiana University and later Marymount Manhattan College in New York, the "gender-nonconforming" label started to feel too small. She was a dancer. She was exploring the club scene. She was meeting other trans women who showed her that a successful, beautiful life was actually possible.
She didn't just flip a switch. It was a slow burn. She moved from androgyny to "femme" to eventually starting her medical transition in the late 90s. By the time she was auditioning for Law & Order or appearing on reality shows like I Want to Work for Diddy, she was the Laverne we know today.
Why We Are Still Obsessed With "Before" photos
There’s a weird, sometimes voyeuristic urge people have to see trans celebrities "before." It’s a fixation on the "man" that used to be there. But for Laverne, that person—Marcus in the show or the version of her that existed in Alabama—is a ghost.
M Lamar once said he had mixed feelings about the OITNB fame because people started Googling him just to see what Laverne "looked like as a man." That's gotta be annoying for a serious artist. He’s his own person, not a walking "before" photo.
Actionable Insights: Moving Beyond the "Before"
If you’re interested in Laverne Cox’s journey, looking for laverne cox as a man is actually the least interesting way to engage with her work. Here’s how to actually dive into her impact:
- Watch "Disclosure" on Netflix: If you want to understand why the media’s obsession with trans "transitions" and "before/after" photos is actually harmful, watch this documentary she executive produced. It’s a masterclass in film history.
- Follow M Lamar’s Work: Don't just see him as a twin. Check out his music and art. He’s a singular talent who deserves to be known for more than a three-episode arc in a prison drama.
- Support Trans Creators: Instead of focusing on the biological "past," look at what trans artists are building now. Laverne paved the way so that others don't have to spend their lives being asked about who they "used to be."
Laverne’s story isn't about a transformation from one thing to another. It’s about someone who was always a woman finally getting the world to see it. The "man" people keep looking for never really existed—except as a character played by her brother.