Karla Mosley talks transgender 'Bold and the Beautiful' character

LOS ANGELES, March 19 (UPI) -- Karla Mosley was surprised but happy when her The Bold and the Beautiful character was revealed as transgender this week.

The 33-year-old actress discussed the revelation in a subsequent interview with USA Today. Mosley has portrayed Maya Ivant on the CBS soap opera since 2013, and the series revealed her character was born a man on Wednesday's episode.

"My first reaction was surprise, because 10 or 20 years ago, this is not a story we would be telling, and not in a way that's truthful and not sensational," the star said. "My second reaction was, 'Thank you.' It's a gift, it's a privilege. It's a real opportunity to educate our viewers here and all over the world."

"The more that we in Hollywood can help people to understand what it is to be transgender, what that experience might be like for someone, and just to normalize it, I think we have the possibility of really changing some hearts and lives," she added to Us Weekly.

Ivant is the first transgender character to appear as a series regular on broadcast television. Netflix comedy-drama Orange is the New Black and Amazon program Transparent also feature transgender characters and/or actors and highlight trans issues.