Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagicLaverne Cox is flipping to the other side of the law for CBS and making TV history in the process. E! News has confirmed the Emmy nominated star of Orange Is the New Black has booked a lead role in Doubt, a new legal drama pilot in the works at the network. So what does this mean for her time behind bars on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black?
Cox will play Cameron Wirth, described as a transgender Ivy League-educated attorney who is "as competitive as she is compassionate." The character is "fierce" and "funny," and has experienced injustice first hand, making her "fight all the harder for her clients."
If Doubt goes to series, Cox will be the first transgender lead in network TV history.
The pilot, which is still that, a pilot, follows a defense attorney at a boutique firm who gets romantically involved with one of her clients who could be at the center of a brutal crime.
Cox just booked a guest-starring role on The Mindy Project and recently popped up on Bravo's Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce. Does this CBS role mean she's out at Orange Is the New Black?
Consider this: Season three of Orange wrapped production already and will hit Netflix later this year. Season four has yet to be greenlit, but Cox could pull double-duty on the show like her costar Matt McGorry did with How to Get Away With Murder. Neither actor is featured in every episode and their roles are decidedly more supporting in nature. And at this point Doubt is just a pilot.
Request for comment about Cox's future with OITNB was not immediately returned.