Mya Taylor

Born: 1991-03-28

Mya Taylor (born March 28, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Alexandra in the 2015 film Tangerine for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. Mya Taylor was born on March 28, 1991, in Houston, Texas. She was raised by her Christian grandparents, who at first did not know that she had come out as gay (pre-transition) in school. In 2009, she came out to them, which led to a lot of tension in the home. Taylor left and moved to California in May 2009 to live with another relative, but her gender identity led that relative to kick her out on the street. Unable to secure legal employment at the age of 18, she worked as a sex worker in Hollywood. She began going to therapy, and it was in her talks with her therapist that she decided that she was going to be true to herself. In January 2013, she came out as transgender. She has since reconnected with her mother, who coined her name, Mya. She lived in an apartment with her eventual Tangerine co-star Kitana Kiki Rodriguez. It was at the age of 23, after five years of sex work and after four arrests for prostitution, Mya was approached by director Sean Baker and his co-screenwriter Chris Bergoch as she stood in the yard of Los Angeles' LGBT Center to star in their film Tangerine.


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Disclosure

as Alexandra (archive footage)
Released: 2020-06-19

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel...

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Tangerine

as Alexandra
Released: 2015-07-10

It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp...

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Stage Mother

as Cherry
Released: 2020-07-24

A conservative church-choir director moves from Texas to San Francisco to run her deceased gay...

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Take Flight

as Self - Performer
Released: 2015-12-10

2015's best actors lift off in a series of tributes to the ultimate Hollywood magic trick.

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High Tide

as Crystal
Released: 2024-03-08

Lourenço decides to leave his homophobic family and country behind to get lost in the queer...

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Myra

as Joy
Released: 2019-01-19

A trans sex worker in the Spanish barrio finds herself in an unwanted love triangle with a...

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Merry F*cking Christmas: the making of Tangerine

as Herself
Released: 2022-12-19

A feature length documentary going behind-the-scenes on the making of the 2015 film Tangerine.

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Viva Diva

as Diva
Released: 2017-06-23

Viva Diva is a road trip movie, centering on Rozene and Diva, as they make their way down to...

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Happy Birthday, Marsha!

as Marsha P. Johnson
Released: 2018-03-10

It's a hot summer day in June, 1969. Marsha throws herself a birthday party and dreams of...

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Diane from the Moon

as Diane
Released: 2016-10-16

Shortly after a hurtful breakup, Diane, a transgender pagan priestess, finds refuge in Palm...

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Dietland

as Barbara
First aired: 2018-06-04

Plum Kettle, ghost-writer for the editor of one of New York’s hottest fashion magazines,...

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