Amiyah Scott was among the many rumored names mentioned set to take a spot with the season 8 cast of Bravo's Real Housewives of Atlanta, as the first transgender woman to join the franchise. Although the rumors proved to be false and she did not make it onto the reality series a a full cast member, she has however, landed herself a role on the spin-off of another hit TV show, Empire. During a recent phone interview she spoke about the many opportunities that have come her way since making the decision as a teen to transition from a young boy to a young lady.
Although Scott is already very well known and has many followers on her social media sites, her claim to fame may just be getting started. Rolling Out reported that Lee Daniels, creator of the Fox Wednesday hit drama series, Empire will be working on a spin off which focuses on the life of a young Cookie Lyon (Taraji P Henson), the matriarch of the musical family on the show. Like Empire, this show will also focus on music and is set to feature an all-girl group, in which Scott has been cast in a role that is all too familiar to her - a transgender woman, who is a part of the group.
It was back in November that Fox held an open casting call audition in Chicago to find the right girls to play the roles of the four girl group members, as reported by Variety. According to the site, the character details were very specific, especially for the role of Cotton, who the site describes as "a half African-American and half Latina transgender woman with a stunning look," Variety reported. The character is also one who can resemble that of a 20 something year old and has a great sense of style and for fashion. That description is what prompted Daniels to seek out Scott, who he reportedly had heard so much about during the RHOA cast speculation, according to Rolling Out. The site reported that although Scott has never acted in a a major TV role, she has since began taking lessons from some of the best acting coaches to perform well. However, she already knows how to connect with the character's mental and emotional state as a transgender woman, being that she is one herself and has been since she was a teenager.
During a November phone interview with Embrace Life Media (full interview below), Scott explained how she always knew that she was different from a very young age but, more specifically, around the age of 14 years old, she began to learn more about transitioning and what that process entailed. Up until then, all she really knew was that she was attracted to the same sex and was homosexual.
"Me being gay was kind of step one," Scott explained during her interview about her transitioning stages of life. "And then, once I made it through that step, it was like ok well, I think that it's something more. Or I think it's something kind of bigger than that." Scott explained how although her parents did not agree with her decisions, they remained supportive of her in an attempt to remain in her life and continue to be a family. She says it was her determination to live the lifestyle that she wanted to live that made them come around.
"They didn't initially go into it like 'okay you can be a woman and that's just that - great for you'," she explained of her parents' response. "...What they did see was that it was something I was going to do. I wasn't asking for permission, I was asking for support." She explained how she took a stand and told her parents that if they were willing to give her that support that she was requesting then she would have to remove them from her life.
Luckily, her parents did give that support and are very proud of her and her accomplishments. Scott believes that what sets her apart from other transgender women is the fact that she has never tried to hide her past. She is very open and honest about who she is and has even shared photos of herself as a child on Instagram and other social media sites.
Check out the full interview below.
