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As one of the breakout stars of the hit show "Orange Is the New Black," and the first transgender person to land the cover of Time magazine, Laverne Cox is living her dream.

"It's pretty awesome," she told E! News while promoting her new MTV documentary "The T Word," which premiered Friday. "I'm just a person who's trying to live my dreams. I'm very lucky to be living the American dream right now when so many of my trans siblings are not so lucky."

Cox, 30, told the story of a young man she met recently while speaking in Virginia.

"He's 16 years old, his name is Andrew, and he came to my talk and we got to meet and do a photo afterwards, and he gave me this letter and I read the letter afterwards and I was just bawling," she shared with E!. "And he talked about sort of having been depressed, he's come out as trans, his family's been really supportive. But he's just been so depressed going to school."

That changed when he found out Cox was coming to Richmond. "Everyone just told me that he just perked up immediately and got really excited," she said.

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"And just that he would be inspired just that I was coming; that would change his mood, and give him hope and a sense of inspiration," she continued. "It's a lot of responsibility, but I thank you."

The actress narrates the new documentary about seven young people, ages 12 to 24, who are transgender.

"Transgender people are some of the most courageous, amazing people in the world," she told E! "Just to come forward on national television and say, 'This is who I am,' Is a big deal. It's still a big deal to own being transgender."