You may recognize Laverne Cox from the Netflix series ?Orange Is the New Black...?
But according to The Huffington Post, the transgender star's time in the spotlight didn't come easy.
In the first episode of Yahoo Lifestyle?s new ?Loud and Clear? video series, Cox tells
designer Zac Posen that she was bullied as a child.
She explains, "I think that a lot of the reason I was bullied is because there was a light that I had as a kid that the other kids saw, and they were afraid of it.?
Cox says that self-confidence, support from her family and performing helped pull her out of her Alabama hometown and launch her career.
She said, "I did talent shows all over the Southeast. That was good for me. I was an usher and I sang in the choir, so church was good for that, and my mom was a teacher, so I understood that education was the path to freedom.?
Cox received a dance scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School in Chicago, which took her to New York City.
Cox adds, "?It?s this process of discovery that comes from a super-vulnerable, deeply intimate place that is just healing. It doesn?t always feel good, but the process ? feels like the highest form of living.?