My chat with Jay Duplass of “Transparent”

In Transparent’s second season, viewers get to see more of the journey of the Pfefferman family’s middle sibling Joshua, a successful music producer who has troubled relationships with women.

Actor Jay Duplass, who plays Joshua, told me recently it’s been satisfying as an actor to be a part of a groundbreaking show about what happens to a family following the discovery that the person they knew as their father is transgender.

But Duplass, 42, is also happy to be involved because the show has been seen as groundbreaking in its look at transgender and other LGBTI issues.

‘I guess I’ve always been an LGBT ally – this has always been a part of my life,’ he says.

‘I think what the show opens me up to more than anything is really the deeper theme of being true to yourself. It encourages me to do that in every moment and to also fight for the rights of everyone else to do that in their own way whatever way that may be. Of course there is LGBTQ context for that and that is immediate.

‘I think it’s an issue for everyone and I think that’s why people are connecting with the show.’

The actor and his younger brother, Mark Duplass, are also producers of the film Tangerine which made history last month when transgender actresses Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor were both nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for their portrayals of transgender women in the film.

The second season of Transparent began streaming on Amazon last week.