Laverne Cox had no idea she would be speaking to Duchess Meghan when she agreed to be part of British Vogue’s September issue, “Forces for Change.”

The trailblazing transgender Orange is the New Blackstar says she only found out last week with a phone call.

“[ British Vogue editor-in-chief] Edward Enninful called me at 9:30 in the morning and he’s like, ‘I have someone on the phone for you,’ and it was the Duchess of Sussex,” she told People.

Of course, Laverne did what most of us would probably do if we suddenly discovered we were talking to the duchess on the phone: she told her how much she loved her.

“I did tell her I had been a fan of Suits since the beginning – I had been a fan of her since then,” Laverne told the publication. “I just loved her on the show. She just said, ‘Aww.’ She seemed surprised.”

Meghan returned Laverne’s compliments with some of her own, the Daytime Emmy Award winner said.

“She was so lovely,” she gushed. “She just thanked me for being an inspiration and to keep it up.”

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I am completely overwhelmed and overjoyed to share this cover. Being on the cover of Vogue magazine has been a dream of mine since I was a child. To get to share this cover with this group of women who inspire me, who are truly forces for change is deeply humbling. That it's @britishvogue is even more special to me because British Vogue was the first to feature a black model on its cover, Donyale Luna in May 1966. Thank you so much @edward_enninful and guest editor Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Sussex for including me. Thank you to the entire team at Vogue for making this experience truly divine. #TransIsBeautiful ... Introducing the #ForcesForChange September 2019 issue of @BritishVogue, guest-edited by HRH The Duchess of Sussex @SussexRoyal. Photographed by @TheRealPeterLindbergh, with fashion editors @Edward_Enninful and @TheRealGraceCoddington, hair by @BartPumpkin and @SergeNormant, make-up by @TheValGarland and @Diane.Kendal, nails by @LorraineVGriffin and @YukoTsuchihashi. On newsstands Friday 2 August. Starring: @AdutAkech @Gemma_Chan @GretaThunberg @JameelaJamilOfficial @Chimamanda_Adichie @AdwoaAboah @JacindaArdern @FrankieGoesToHayward @SomaliBoxer @CTurlington @SalmaHayek @TheSineadBurke @JaneFonda @LaverneCox @YaraShahidi

A post shared by laverne cox (@lavernecox) on Jul 28, 2019 at 3:09pm PDT

Meghan was reportedly a hands-on collaborator for the special September issue, from selecting the women to interview as well as feature on the magazine’s cover. The issue has 15 barrier-breaking women on its cover, including Christy Turlington and Jane Fonda. The magazine also includes a candid conversation about racism, prejudice and environmentalism between Prince Harry and Dr. Jane Goodall.

Other influential women featured in the magazine include Salma Hayek, model Adwoa Aboah, diversity advocate Sinéad Burke, The Good Place star Jameela Jamil, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Crazy Rich Asians star Gemma Chan, Grown-ish and Black-ish star Yara Shahidi and teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

MORE: The 15 women on the cover of Duchess Meghan’s issue of British Vogue

“It’s a dream come true,” she said to People. “It’s been one of my biggest dreams of my career, and here it is.”

You can see Laverne in the seventh season of Orange is the New Black, which is on Netflix now. She was recently nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on the show, and will find out if she’s won when the awards are handed out on Sept. 22.