Norman Lear, the TV legend behind The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Sanford & Son, is back with a new project named Clean Slate starring Laverne Cox and comedian George Wallace.
Variety reports that the half-hour comedy follows “car wash owner ‘Henry,’ whose estranged child comes home to Alabama after 17 years. But he must do some soul searching as he comes to terms with the fact that his adult child is a trans woman, ‘Desiree.’” Wallace will take on the role of Henry and Cox, Desiree. Lear and his producing partner Brent Miller will executive produce under Lear’s Act III Productions company along with Cox and Dan Ewen, both of whom originally created the series in tandem with Wallace. Ewen has also been tapped as showrunner for the series and will also pen the pilot script. Up-and-coming streaming platform IMDb TV will house the series, which also comes as a part of Lear’s overall first-look deal with Sony Pictures TV.
Cox recently spoke to The Guardian’s Observer Magazine about living alone during the pandemic and her subsequent struggle to combat negative thoughts and self-talk during this difficult time.
I remember thinking, ‘This is a spiritual opportunity.’ Ha! Oh Laverne, you’re so full of it! Turns out it was the hardest year of my life. When I’m alone I can be really hard on myself. I’ve caught myself saying the most atrocious things to myself, things I would never say if I was out in the world. ‘You’re so ugly’…Vicious, cruel things. Things that, if I said them to a child, then the child would be taken away from me. But, we all have a child inside us, so.”
What helps? “This sounds so corny. OK. I stand by the mirror and say, ‘You’re so amazing.’ I say, ‘You got through that, that’s incredible. So many people are still struggling in ways you don’t struggle any more. You’ve accomplished so much, you’ve grown so much. So many trans people have said their lives are better because of you.’ I stand in the mirror and say, ‘Laverne, you should be so proud.’”