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Transgender Actress Says She Walked Out of Offensive Curb Your Enthusiasm Audition

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Candis Cayne
Candis Cayne was the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character on a prime time series, as love interest Carmelita on ABC's Dirty Sexy Money. In past decades, the majority of transgender characters have been played by non-transgender actors and often been portrayed in negative roles, like psychopathic killers or dead prostitutes.Charles Sykes—Invision/AP
By Ashley Ross

Transgender actress Candis Cayne says she walked out of an audition for HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm because of an offensive joke.

“The part was for a trans woman who had to go to the bathroom really bad and decided she was going to go in the men’s line because it was quicker. I said, ‘Thank you for writing a trans part, but I can’t audition because a trans woman wouldn’t do this. I have to honor my community,’ and I walked out of the audition,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.

Cayne said fellow transgender actress Alexandra Billings, most recently on Amazon’s Transparent, had the same reaction to the joke and the part. Cayne, a close friend of Caitlyn Jenner’s, has starred in shows like Nip/Tuck, Dirty Sexy Money and Elementary.

HBO confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the joke never aired on the show.

Read next: How Transgender People Choose Their New Names

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