What Would Maura On Transparent Think of Caitlyn Jenner?

As if there could be any doubt, the man who knows Maura Pfefferman best says she would be green with envy of all the publicity and attention bestowed upon Caitlyn Jenner.

"Definitely," said actor Jeffrey Tambor, who plays the transgender patriarch who comes out to her family on Amazon's much heralded series, Transparent.

"Maura loves a red carpet and loves a party," Tambor told TV critics, including The New York Times, at a question and answer session in Beverly Hills Monday. "That's something she would really like."

And it turns out the real life Olympian has met Maura's real life alter ego, an award winner in his own realm.

"I think she is courageous and I told her so," Tambor said.

After the panel, the Golden Globe winner who has been nominated for an Emmy conceded any trepidation he felt playing a trans woman was nothing compared to Jenner's bravery in coming out for real. "If my knees were knocking, you can imagine her knees," he told The Times.

"The example she is setting is so, so beautiful and it's gonna go very, very far. (It's) not only illustrative but also very inspiring to me."

The actor revealed they had dinner together, but didn't say if he was dressed in character. But he did confess he learned a lot in preparing for the role of playing a late transitioning trans woman with what Tambor dubbed "field trips."

"It was life changing. ... People don't look at you," he said.

On one occasion, Tambor said he was dining with a woman at a restaurant, when a man passed their table.

"He said, 'Have a good day, ladies.' I said, 'Yes!' I felt so good because I had made it up in my head it's much more."

Although Jenner has visited the set, Tambor told critics he didn't expect to see her guest-starring on Transparent, considering she now has her own show.

"We love Caitlyn," he said, adding that although he does not consider himself any kind of spokesman for trans people, "I think as an ally I can do great good."

The series is in production of season two, and returns Dec. 4 on Amazon.