In the second season of Transparent, the groundbreaking Amazon series that traces one father's journey to womanhood, Maura Pfefferman ? played by Jeffrey Tambor, in a role that has won him two Emmys ? struggles to find the right inflection for the popular queer catchphrase, "Yas queen."
Her teacher is Shea ? played by Trace Lysette ? a yoga teacher and sometimes stripper, who steps in to show her fellow transgender, a newbie, the ropes.
The moment, which went viral shortly after the season debuted in November 2015, plays out as sweet, hilarious and authentic. But Lysette now says the circumstances around its filming were anything but.
According to Lysette, when she emerged from wardrobe in her costume ? a salmon-colored lingerie top and matching short-shorts ? Tambor remarked, "My God, Trace. I want to attack you sexually." Alexandra Billings, the third actor in the scene, was present to hear the remark, she confirms. Both "laughed it off because it was so absurd," Lysette says.
