Interview: Transgender Actress Cece Sauzo-Augustus

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with actress Cece Suazo-Augustus. Ms. Cece is many things: an Honduran/Cuban adoptee, transgendered, driven.

"I won't stop until I win a TONY. If you can perfect theatre, everything else comes easily." She goes down a list of African-American TONY award winners. It's this goal, she says, that keeps her in theatre and keeps her humble.

Cece spoke of the inspiration she received from her foster parents who worked in the music industry. Her biological parents, who just wanted the best for their children, were less understanding. "They wanted us to be doctors and lawyers but I always knew I had this artistic vision."

When I asked about her relationship with her biological parents she painted a rocky picture. She hasn't spoken to her biological mother since she was twelve years old, the year she came out. "I wanted to be Pearl Bailey or Ethel Merman. They were my idols. My parents didn't understand that. There was a lot of fighting." However Cece's biological father, Efrain Suazo, would later go on to be one of her biggest supporters.

Cece trained in acting, dance and voice and successfully auditioned against hundreds of other performers in her youth to become one of the chosen few on several occasions. She would keep auditioning but she wasn't comfortable in her own skin. "I wanted to be more like a Misty Copeland or Whitney Houston than Mikhail Baryshnikov or Gerald Levert. It was like a second person was in me. A diva was inside."

She told me a story of the Actor's Equity building on 46th where she would drop off a 8x10 copy of her school picture every day until she caught the attention of an agent named Lee Buckler. Lee offered to talk to her and was impressed by her determination. "...but she told me I needed to get real headshots. I harassed my dad for weeks to get the money for them." Cece's biological father gave her the money on the condition that she brought home good grades, which she did. She got her professional shots and kept chasing opportunities.

"Doors continued to open but I still wasn't happy. I had started to transition at the age of 16. I was having thoughts of suicide. At age 17 I packed my bags and left for California. I didn't contact my family again until I was 24." While she was a resident of the Covenant House in Hollywood, members of the RENT national tour visited. This helped her make the decision to be trans and an actress.

When a Los Angeles Shakespeare Company came to town she and her friend, Donald Steinbery, auditioned and landed major roles. "I was cast as Cinna the poet in Julius Caesar, Brooklyn accent and all. I was still in transition at the time but I was ecstatic! Then, right before rehearsals started, I found out Donald died in a car crash. I was heartbroken. I didn't think I could do it without him. But people kept telling me 'Donald would have wanted you to do this.' I did it."

The wife of Ben Donenberg, founder and executive artistic director of The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA), was the director of that production. Mr. Donenberg even once suggested to Cece that the prestigious Juilliard had a seat for her. But, according to Cece, she was "passing" as a woman. That is until a newsletter from a Covenant House on the East Coast showed up lauding Cece's successes as a young performer and referring to her as "he."

"I had to come out as trans to the Shakespeare festival. I believe I was the first trans performer in the festival." But things turned out well for Cece and her work with the Shakespeare Festival opened the door for more formal training.

Still, there was plenty of disappointment to go with the triumphs and Cece has had to undergo unique challenges as a trans-woman of color. "I'll always get questions like 'Are you sure you're trans? You don't look trans. You don't talk trans.' And I have dark skin, so I don't look like the 'typical' Latina. But I'm 100% trans and 100% Latina. I speak fluent Spanish. But I get pigeon-holed and rejected for roles because I'm not 'sissy' enough or 'Spanish' enough. I just wish people would put quality over looks."

Cece has learned to cope. Her motto is "Above all water. When one door closes, another opens." She doesn't take rejection hard. "I just tell myself the contract was for someone else. Not everything is for Cece. One of my mentors used to say 'You can't dance at every party.'"

I asked Cece what she felt some of her greatest accomplishments as an actress were. She reflected fondly on working with the Ivy Theatre company. "Audrey Alford cast me as Terry in Incongruence. I was a lesbian in a biracial relationship with a trans child. I loved the show."

I also asked if Cece might have any advice for people who find similar marginalization in arts and entertainment fields. "Go for it! Don't let anyone stop you from believing in what's for you. Go for what you want because you never know where it may lead. You may not be right for this but you might be right for that. I've had casting directors reject me for one project only to call me back months later for a different one. One door closes, another opens. I will always work."

Catch Ms. Cece in concert this Saturday, November 7th, at a benefit performance featuring Broadway performers for the THISability Theatre Company. The benefit will be held at the Beckett Theatre at 410 W. 42nd street at 7:30pm. Call 212.714.2442 for information. Cece will be performing "When You're Good to Mama" from Chicago.