Candis Cayne talks to Greg In Hollywood

Candis Cayne played Carmelita, the mistress of Billy Baldwin’s New York attorney general character for two seasons on the ABC drama Dirty Sexy Money.

She was the first transgendered actress to play a recurring transgendered character on a TV series. I caught up with Candis at the Human Rights Campaign dinner last Saturday night

Greg: How are you?

Candys: I’m gorgeous, thank you.

GH: You are. You are stunning!

CC: You are so sweet.

GH: I’m sorry Dirty Sexy Money went off. How are you dealing with it?

CC: You know, a lot of moping, a lot of binge eating. No. It’s okay. I talk to Billy (Baldwin) and some of the other cast and we’re all bummed but that’s what happens. Shows are on then they go off. We’ll work through it.

GH: Your role was such a breakthrough. I think you did so much for transgendered people. Have you felt that and gotten that feedback?

CC: Especially when I got to events (like the HRC dinner), I realize that it’s not me so much, it’s what I represent. It was more of a selfish kind of thing for me before. It was I want a gig. I ant a part. I want to do this. But then once it happened, I realized it was about pushing society forward a little and opening people’s eyes.

GH: What are you up to now?

CC: Well, I’ve got a few episodes of Nip/Tuck which are going to start. You know, it’s kind of funny because I went from doing Billy Baldwin to Julian McNamara. So it was kind of like two really sexy men. It made me realize that, in my mind, I’m a leading lady. Maybe not to the rest of the world but I play a good game in my mind.

GH: Do you have a story arc on Nip/Tuck?

CC:  Yeah, and I did a pilot and a few more things on the table that I’m thinking about maybe doing. So, back to the drawing board.

GH: Do you feel like you have more opportunities now because of Dirty Sexy Money?

CC: Yes. I can actually get in the door now. It gave me the respect as an actress. Doing scenes with Donald Sutherland somehow gets you a good credit in the acting world.