We already couldn’t wait to see the upcoming ABC miniseries When We Rise, from director Gus Van Sant and Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, but now we’re excited to see the work of Ivory Aquino, a transgender actress who spoke about being trans publicly for the first time this week, according to People. 

Ivory told People that she was ready to give up on her acting career because she thought there would never be a place for a “transgender girl from the Phillippines.” 

“I didn’t feel at that time that there were any roles I could do,” she said. But now, she’s starring alongside heavy hitters Whoopi Goldberg, Guy Pearce, Mary Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths, and Rosie O’Donnell in the miniseries about the history of the LGBT rights movement. In the series, Ivory plays Cecilia Chung, a long-time transgender and HIV/AIDS activist who currently serves on the San Francisco Health Commission. 

At a panel for the mini-series at the Television Critics Association this week, Ivory spoke about being trans publicly, although, she wanted casting directors for When We Rise to know that she was trans when she auditioned, she told People.  

Prior to landing the plum role in the historic mini-series Ivory enjoyed a fair amount of success on the New York stage in The Drilling Company’s Romeo and Juliet for Bryant Park Shakespeare. But Ivory is thrilled to be a part of When We Rise (based on activist and friend to Harvey Milk, Cleve Jones’ autobiography). 

“You spend your whole life dreaming of these things,” Ivory told People. “And it’s really humbling when your dreams come true.

Watch the When We Rise trailer: