IvoryAquino (Image Group LA/ABC)

A flourishing Hollywood career is one that a few tread.

Moreso for a Filipina transgender artist, it becomes ajourney all the more triumphant and fulfilling.

With Ivory Aquino sharing credits with an ensemble cast ofA-listers in the major ABC mini-series WhenWe Rise, the acclaim and achievement are both monumental for what sherepresents—the changing tide towards inclusion, diversity and the growingappreciation for Asian, notably Filipino, talent and recognition fortransgender people.

When We Rise is aretelling of the gay rights movement in America, which offered this ultimateopportunity for Ivory to live her dream. That is actually playing a transgenderrole befitting her own real journey as a person.

“Sharing her story”

Ivory stresses it quite succinctly: it’s like “sharing herstory.”

“I haven't really talked about my personal history until nowbecause frankly, there was never a reason to. I'm a live-in-the-moment type ofperson,” Ivory tells Push in an exclusive e-mail interview. “What changed mymind in terms of sharing my story with the public was the importance of 'WhenWe Rise' in terms of telling diverse stories to hopefully show that the LGBTQcommunity has a lot more in common with other communities in that we all desirethe same things: love for and from our families, love for and from a lifepartner, love for one's vocation and wanting to contribute to society through ameaningful life.”

Ivory, a Berklee College of Music graduate, first set footin the US at age 18 from the Philippines after graduating from the Ateneo HighSchool to pursue her passion in the theater arts.

She took non-gender-specific or cisgender roles innoteworthy stage productions, particularly her unforgettable Juliet in BryantPark Shakespeare.

Monumentalopportunity

And then, the most monumental opportunity came: actuallyplaying the role of a transgender activist in the ongoing primetime miniserieson the major US TV network, ABC.

“In my career, I had yet to play a trans character and saidI was interested in playing a trans woman who was more than a stereotype, someonewho was representative of the community in being three-dimensional andhopefully, would contribute positively to how trans women are depicted infilm.” Ivory stressed.

She then received a casting call for the role of CeciliaChung in the series, playing the role of a real-life LGBTQ activist who, likeher, is an immigrant.

_{Ivory Aquinoas Cecilia Chung in When We Rise(Eike Schroter/ABC)}

“I auditioned two days later for the show's casting directorwith four scenes they had me prepare. A few days later, my intuition told me towrite the casting director a note letting her know my gender history.Coincidentally or not, I got asked the following day to do a callback audition,which consisted of learning a fifth scene. I had one day to prepare and did allfive scenes. A couple days later, I was informed that I was up for networkapproval where I believe the network executives all watched my audition tape,and a few days later, I got the job,” Ivory recalled.

Ivory revealed that the show’s creator Dustin Lance Blackhad no idea she was a transgender when he saw her audition tape. “He didn't know I was trans when he saw mytape. He said it was only when we were on the phone for the first time and Ishared with him my gender history, that he knew,” she noted.

“Pinch my cheeks”

She said that when she learned who her co-cast members were,she “literally had to pinch my cheeks.”

“When I found out who was in the cast namely Guy Pearce,Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths, Michael K. Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, RosieO'Donnell, just to name a few, and that the directors included Gus Van Sant whois a two-time Oscar nominee, and Thomas Schlamme who created the West Wing withAaron Sorkin and is a multiple Emmy winner, and Dustin Lance Black who is anOscar winner, and Dee Rees whose work and film 'Pariah' I have been a fan of, Iliterally had to pinch my cheeks.”

But when she got down to business, Ivory said she waspassionately driven.

“Once I got on set and my focus was on doing the best job Icould in terms of telling Cecilia's story, all these amazing artists became mycolleagues as we were all committed to telling all these touching storiesintertwined,” she said.

With her own “rise,” Ivory is dubbed by Hollywood Reporteras Hollywood’s “Next Big Thing.”

“It's truly very flattering to be called that. It's not aterm that I've coined for myself, so there's no added pressure on my part topursue things any differently from how I've done these past years, which is tofollow my gut and intuition in terms of choosing projects. For me, the simpleguideline is, 'Does this excite me as an artist?' So I'll keepfollowing my joy and trust it leads me to do work that's meant for me,” sheadded.