Jen Richards is a transgender American writer, actress, producer and activist.

Life and career

Richards was born in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and resides in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. She graduated from

Shimer College Shimer Great Books School (pronounced ) is a Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, with a history of being ...

with a BA in Philosophy, and studied at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. In 2015, she appeared as a supporting cast member of Caitlyn Jenner's reality show ''

I Am Cait ''I Am Cait'' is an American television documentary series which chronicles the life of Caitlyn Jenner after her gender transition. The eight-part one-hour documentary series debuted on July 26, 2015, on the E! network. The series focuses on th ...

''. In 2016, she co-starred, co-directed, co-wrote and co-produced the web series '' Her Story'', which was nominated for an Emmy Award. Richards also co-produced the series ''More Than T'' and wrote the ''Trans 102'' series. Richards joined the cast of the television series '' Nashville'' in 2017. She became the first openly transgender person to appear on a CMT show, playing the first transgender character to appear on that network. Richards also appeared in the 2017 film ''Easy Living''. In June 2017, Richards wrote and appeared in a video open letter, presented by

ScreenCrush Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

and GLAAD, featuring trans actors asking for better representation in film and television. In August 2018, HBO announced a series pickup of Tom Perrotta's '' Mrs. Fletcher'', a half-hour comedy based on Perrotta's 2017 novel of the same name; Richards is cast as Margo Fairchild, a transgender community college writing teacher, as a series regular.

Personal life

Richards is bisexual. In August 2020, she announced her engagement to Rebekah Cheyne, a professor from Arizona State University.

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Jen Living people Bisexual women Actresses from Mississippi Shimer College alumni American television writers American television producers American women television producers American film actresses American television actresses American screenwriters Transgender actresses Transgender writers Year of birth missing (living people) LGBT people from Mississippi American women television writers LGBT screenwriters LGBT producers Bisexual actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers Bisexual writers American bisexual actors