Alabama has been home to tons of famous and inspirational people over the years, but here are five actors and/or actresses that, in recent years, have helped to shape the entertainment industry.

Laverne Cox

Born: May 29, 1984

City: Mobile

Roles best known for: Sophia Burset in "Orange Is The New Black," Co-hosted as herself for "TRANSform Me"

Effect on Industry: Her portrayal of the character Sophia Burset on the hit show "Orange Is The New Black" brings to light the struggles of trans people for its millions of viewers at a time when trans people are becoming more talked about and accepted within our society. In 2014, she became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy in an acting category for this role and won a Daytime Emmy as executive producer for "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word." She is also the first transgender person to have a waxwork in Madame Tussaud's and be on the cover of Time magazine. Laverne Cox is a very notable activist in the LGBT community and bravely stands up against critics to make the world a better and safer place for trans people everywhere.

Channing Tatum

Born: April 26, 1980

City: Cullman

Roles best known for: Tyler Gage in Step Up, Michael "Magic Mike" Lane in "Magic Mike," John Tyree in "Dear John," Greg Jenko in "21 Jump Street"

Effect on Industry: Channing Tatum has had some memorable roles, but perhaps his most well known is Michael "Magic Mike" Lane in "Magic Mike" and "Magic Mike XXL," where he plays a male stripper. In a time where female sexuality is finally being seen and talked about in a more positive light than ever before, movies like "Magic Mike" and "Fifty Shades of Grey" are a large part of the conversation showing that, yes, women do like sex and don’t just do it for the man's benefit. This showed production companies that women were willing to buy tickets to these types of films.

Octavia Spencer

Born: May 25, 1970

City: Montgomery

Roles best known for: Minny in "The Help," Dorothy Vaughan in "Hidden Figures"

Effect on Industry: Octavia’s unique ability to mix seriousness with humor shines through in her roles which have helped her climb to stardom and earned her a spot as one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood list in 2009. She tends to choose interesting roles portraying strong and complex women while addressing social issues that are relevant in the past and today. She won an Oscar in 2012 for her role in The Help and received Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for "Hidden Figures."

Courtney Cox

Born: June 15, 1964

City: Mountain Brook

Roles best known for: Monica Geller in "Friends," Jules Cobb in "Cougar Town"

Effect on Industry: It wasn't so much her that had an impact on the industry as it was her show "Friends." "Friends" was the first of it’s kind because, instead of being a sitcom that mostly revolved around a single actor, which was usually a famous male comedian, it was an ensemble cast with each character getting roughly the same amount of screen time. The actors made a collective effort to not only appear equal but to get paid equally, too, and did this by demanding the same amount of pay for each of the main actors. This eventually led to them all getting one million dollars an episode for seasons nine and ten while also getting syndication royalties, which was unheard of at the time for actors who did not own a stake in the show. This paycheck made her, Jennifer Aniston, and Lisa Kudrow the highest paid TV actresses of all time.

Amber Benson

Born: January 8, 1977

City: Birmingham

Role best known for: Tara in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

Effect on Industry: The relationship between Tara and Willow on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was one of the first lesbian relationships on TV. They pushed against the boundaries set for them by the CW network to give the audience the loving and moving relationship between two female characters that the LGBT community desperately needed. Most gay characters on TV at the time were over the top and unrelatable, but their relationship was treated just like any other on the show, and it wasn’t made to feel any different from the straight relationships. The relationship between these two women was groundbreaking and paved the way for future LGBT characters on TV.