Laverne Cox is getting ready to tell her story on her own terms.
According to Gayety, the actress, producer, and longtime LGBTQ+ advocate has revealed the cover for her upcoming memoir, Transcendent, which is set to arrive on Gallery Books in June 2026.
Best known for breaking barriers in Hollywood, Laverne Cox first made history in 2014 with her role as Sophia Burset on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black.
That performance earned her a Primetime Emmy acting nomination, making her the first openly transgender person to be recognized in the category. Over the course of the series, she received four Emmy nominations and became a cultural force far beyond television.
Transcendent traces Cox’s journey long before the spotlight. According to the synopsis provided by Gallery Books, the memoir begins in Mobile, Alabama, where she grew up before attending the Alabama School of Fine Arts.
It follows her eventual move to New York City, a period marked by financial instability, depression, and the uncertainty of chasing acting work as a trans woman in an industry not built for that reality.
Before landing her career-defining role, Cox worked wherever she could, including performing at a drag restaurant, while questioning whether acting was a dream worth continuing to fight for.
The book revisits the pivotal moment when everything shifted: booking Orange Is the New Black. As the synopsis puts it, “Her world changed overnight,” transforming her from “a struggling trans actress to a cultural movement.”
Beyond acting, Cox has continued to carve out a wide-ranging career. In 2015, she became the first transgender person to win a Daytime Emmy as an executive producer on Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word. Since then, she’s expanded into hosting, podcasting, and high-profile activism, including using her platform on red carpets and speaking at major political events.
Cox has said she was intentional about when and how to tell her story. “I needed the time, emotional steadiness, and fortitude to grapple with the deeper truths of the facts of my life,” she told People, citing both the painful and beautiful chapters along the way.
She added that her hope is meaningful but straightforward: “I hope these words…can be of service to someone out there. The reason I’m still alive is to be in service to something bigger than me.”