For the second year in a row, Jeffrey Tambor won an Emmy for playing Maura Pfefferman on Transparent. The Amazon series is about a father of three who, once his kids were grown, transitions to a woman.
Tambor is exceptional on the show, and he made a big statement when he accepted his award. First he gave an impassioned plea to Hollywood decision-makers to give transgender talent a chance. Then he said, "I would not be unhappy were I the last cisgender male to play a transgender character on television."
His statement was just the latest in a recent push to change the way movies and television shows are cast.
![Jeffrey Tambor won an Emmy for playing Maura Pfefferman on Transparent.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/IKEFSQGGJAGKQZ24F3SBZJFWCA.png?auth=802b5eb9e646595f0b82524f486ae7069dd46d86b18ab29c820cd2b512d3e48c&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
For many years, the sure-fire way to win an award - whether it was an Emmy or an Oscar - was for a well-known actor to play a character with a disability. It's worked again and again, whether it was Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man or Claire Danes in Temple Grandin. In each of these cases, able-bodied actors delivered the tour-de-force performances.