Maura Pfefferman

Maura Pfefferman, formerly Mort Pfefferman, is a fictional character on American web series Transparent, created by Jill Soloway, the series creator and showrunner. Maura is a divorced, Jewish, L.A.-located retired college professor of Political Science and parent of three who comes out as transgender. The character is portrayed by actor Jeffrey Tambor. The role and Tambor's performance have received critical acclaim; among other awards, Tambor has won his first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2015 for the role, and has twice been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy, winning once in 2015. 2Creation and casting The character of Maura is based on Jill Soloway's own parent, who came out as transgender at the age of 75, three years before the series started. In fact, the character's nickname "Moppa" (an amalgam of 'Momma" and "Poppa") is what Soloway calls their parent, having briefly used the nickname "Mopsy" for her. Soloway considered using their parent's transition as creative inspiration "pretty much like three seconds [after she came out]," but they "couldn't deal with it emotionally or creatively at all for the first year." Soloway and their older sister, Faith, finally committed to basing a project around their parent after observing that, as their "Moppa" was transitioning, and their stepfather was dying, "One was losing his voice while the other was finding hers. My sister and I were both like, 'We've got to write this shit down.' It was cinematic and it was funny and it was sort of like, If this isn't a TV show, I don't know what to do with these feelings." Amy Landecker, who portrays the character's eldest daughter on the series, explained that Soloway cast Jeffrey Tambor as Maura "from a very personal place", as “in [their] mind, [they] would see Jeffrey through the years and he reminded [them] of her father and I think [they] felt very deeply that he was the right actor for this part.” 3Controversy over casting The series has been criticized for the casting Tambor, a cisgender man, as a transgender woman, even prior to the series' premiere date. Soloway has noted in response that the show's treatment of transgender issues extends beyond its protagonist. Additionally, prominent transgender artists Laverne Cox and Jennifer Boylan (who consults for the series) have praised the casting for being representative of older transitioners.Landecker defended the casting by saying, “This show is great in large part because of him, and I think what Jill tried to do — look, the truth is: he’s one of the greatest actors, he wanted to play this, she [Soloway] feels connected to him, [and the character’s] also pre-transition when we start the show.” 2Storylines 3Season 1 41994 The first season features multiple flashbacks to Maura's life in 1994, when she was living as Mort and married to Shelly (Judith Light