Rebecca Romijn says she thinks playing a trans character on 'Ugly Betty' 'helped open doors' for the trans community

• Rebecca Romjin spoke to The Independent about starring as a trans character on the show "Ugly Betty."
• Romjin said that she "never would be cast in that role today."

Rebecca Romjin reflected on playing a transgender character on the sitcom "Ugly Betty," and said that she thinks the role "helped open doors" for the trans community.

"The executives at the time didn't love the idea of the character," Romjin said in a new interview with The Independent. "There was a real boys' club running the show behind the scenes at that point. So to try and make it palatable to the boys' club... they pitched me. And I jumped at the chance."

Romijin, perhaps best known for playing the shape-shifting mutant named Mystique in the "X-Men" franchise, portrayed Alexis Meade on the ABC show "Ugly Betty." The series centered on an aspiring writer named Betty Suarez (played by America Ferrera) and ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010.

Romjin made her first appearance on "Ugly Betty" during season one, as part of a major plot twist.

Up until that point, Romjin's character, the former editor-in-chief of Hudson magazine, was believed to be dead. But during the first half of the season, a mysterious person was seen wrapped in bandages. On episode 13, that character was revealed to be Alexis Meade (formerly Alex), who was actually alive and underwent gender reassignment surgery.

Romjin said that she "really wanted to do that character justice – and make her as hot as possible."

The actor, a cisgender woman, also acknowledged that if "Ugly Betty" was made nowadays, she probably wouldn't have been chosen to play a transgender character.

"I never would be cast in that role today, but I do feel like it helped open doors for the trans community," she said. "I'd like to think that, anyway. I don't want to pat myself on the back too much."