Why Jeffrey Tambor Signed on for 'Transparent'

Published
ETONLINE

Amazon Prime's new show Transparent stars Jeffrey Tambor as a father of three adult children who begins a new life as a woman, and we found out why it's being called one of the best shows of the year.

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"This show asks beautifully this question: If I change, will you still be there? Will you still love me if I change?" Jeffrey told ET.

The 70-year-old showbiz vet went on to explain why he would take on such a risky role at this point in his career.

"There's huge trans-phobia, there's huge trans-prejudice, and huge trans-ignorance, including I," said Jeffery. "I was ignorant with a capital 'IG.' I didn't know. I thought I knew and I knew nothing ... I was throw up nervous as we were filming this, because it is important to me. I was shaking like a leaf. Not because I wanted to get good reviews, but I wanted to do it right. Because this is important."

The show employs two trans producers/consultants, Zachary Drucker and Rhys Ernst, who agreed with Jeffrey's sentiment about the show's importance.

"Trans-equality is the fight for gender equality," said Zachary.

"I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that there is only one way to be trans," said Rhys. "There's a lot of people that are kind of finding places to live in the middle or identify in a totally different way. There's just as many ways to be trans as there is to be a woman for instance. It's just a huge spectrum."