Laverne Cox Is Heading to The Mindy Project

The Mindy Project has featured some disappointing losses lately, but they’re certainly trying to make up for it with amazing guest stars. Case-in-point, Orange Is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox will soon be making an appearance on the Fox sitcom.

According to E! Online:

Cox will play a cousin of Tamra (Xosha Roquemore) who helps Mindy Kaling‘s character get her confidence back. We can only hope the episode is titled “How Mindy Got Her Groove Back.”

(Side bar: If they call it “How Mindy Got Her Groove Back,” I will never watch The Mindy Project again, no matter how many good guest stars and Chris Messina dance sequences they throw at me.)

Based on E!‘s description alone, Cox’s storyline sounds unoriginal at best and harmfully stereotypical at worst. Please keep in mind, however, that E! has the habit of describing things in the dorkiest way possible. Chances are that Cox will be playing someone a little more complex than the sassy black friend who appears with the singular purpose of boosting Mindy’s self esteem. (Even if that’s how it starts, I trust Mindy Kaling’s ability to turn a trope on its head.) Laverne Cox deserves better than some boring stock character and Kaling hopefully knows that.