Laverne Cox revealed she looks up to Beyoncé and says the singer has admirable work ethics. In fact, Cox often thinks of the Single Ladies hitmaker as a way to get motivated when work gets tough.

She told America’s Cosmopolitan magazine: “Beyonce represents excellence. Her work ethic is like nobody else I’ve ever seen.

There were so many moments when I was shooting ‘Rocky Horror‘ and I’d be exhausted. My body would be hurting and I’d be like, ‘Beyonce. Beyonce does this.’ You have to just put in the work.”

The Orange is the New Black star also praised Tina Turner and says she is a big fan of her songs.

“The pain, pleasure, and agony of all she’s been through is in her voice. Her story is the story of so many black women who’ve endured abuse and come out the other side in such a brilliant, beautiful way.”

Despite her hard work, Laverne says she still has a lot to prove and achieve throughout her career.

She added: “It’s wild that I’m a black transgender woman who was born in Mobile, Alabama, raised by a single mother, and my life has gotten much bigger than I ever could have imagined. Being able to have a career as an actress, being a black woman and being trans, I have stuff to prove.”

The actress has gradually embraced the fact that she is transgender, whereas she often kept quiet about it in the past.

“There is power in accepting and owning my story. For years, I was trying to have an acting career and I thought I needed to not talk about being trans. I needed to try everything I could not to seem trans.

I fully embraced and accepted being trans and stopped looking at it as a deficit and started looking at it as something that made me special and unique … All of those things that might be flaws, that we think are flaws, I believe our power is there.”