The name Candis Cayne may not sound familiar, but she has been around for a while. Cayne is a prominent figure in the LGBT community and in recent weeks she has been thrust into the spotlight thanks to her new friendship with Caitlyn Jenner. 

Cayne appeared on Jenner's E! show "I Am Cait," which made her a newfound reality star. In the series Cayne acted as the unlikely confidante of Jenner and accompanies her on trips to meet with gay and transgender activists like themselves. Cayne also escorted Jenner to the 2015 ESPY Awards where Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Here are five things to know about her.

1. She is transgender.

Cayne was born Brendan McDaniel on Aug. 31, 1971 in Maui, Hawaii. Her parents were teachers at a Waldorf school and were progressives who had few issues when Cayne came out as gay when she was a teenager. She graduated from Baldwin High School in 1989 and knew her whole life that she had an inner femininity and began to transition into a woman circa 1996/97.

"Even when I was a little kid, people would come up to me and ask, 'Are you a boy or a girl?' because my femininity comes from within," she said, according to People magazine. "It's not something that was learned."

Cayne started to participate in drag shows, but that was not enough for her. "Nothing made sense," she said. "I just felt better when I was female."

Through a transgender club doorwoman named Paris the she befriended, Cayne got black-market hormones and had surgeries that took place in decrepit basements in Guadalajara, Mexico,reported the New York Times.

After her transition she started to work as a cabaret performer in New York City. 

2. She has a twin brother. 

Cayne was born with an identical twin named Dylan McDaniel. Her brother was fully supportive when she first came out as gay as a teenager and when she revealed she was transitioning into a woman.

Ever since the two were babies, Cayne said they were completely different. Her twin played football, basketball and soccer. He was a jock and she took dance classes.

"He was fine with it. I have been fortunate enough to not lose any family members from my transition," she explained to Out in 2009. "But seriously, it was more comfortable for [him] that I had not changed mentally, just physically."

3. She has been in the business for decades. 

After Cayne graduated from high school she moved to Los Angeles where she trained as a dancer. After one year she headed to New York City where she hoped to become a professional dancer. In New York she lived in a one-room hotel room in the meatpacking district. She had a scholarship to the dance studio, Steps, on the Upper-West Side and worked as a kitty girl at the Roxy, a former gay club in Chelsea. The gay clubs was where she fell in love with drag.

By day Cayne performed at the wig bar at Patricia Field's boutique and at night she did drag shows at Boy Bar and the Tunnel.  

She continued to work in the NYC nightclub scene until 2007 when she moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. 

4. She made TV history. 

After Cayne moved to Los Angeles, she received a call from her former-boss, Field, who was working as an in-demand costume designer. Field had been hired on a new nighttime soap called "Dirty Sexy Money" that was looking to cast a transgender character. Canye went in to audition and landed the role.

That year she made history and was the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character on TV. She took on the role of Carmelita Rainer on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money." On the show her character had an affair with Billy Baldwin's character, according to Us weekly.

"I read for it and a week later I got a callback," Ms. Cayne said. "I had no idea it was a big deal."

Ever since she made her small screen debut she appeared on many other television shows. Including "CSI: NY," "Nip/Tuck," "Drop Dead Diva," "Necessary Roughness" and most recently in CBS' "Elementary," where she landed a recurring role as Ms. Hudson. 

5. She is attracted to men.

Ever since Cayne was first photographed with Jenner, rumors had circulated that the pair were in a romantic relationship. Fuel was added to the fire when Cayne accompanied Jenner as her date to the 2015 ESPY awards. Despite the rumors, the two are not in a relationship and Cayne is attracted to men.

"Caitlyn and I are really good friends. I really love her a lot, and it's been amazing being by her side through this whole process," Cayne told Access Hollywood. "No. We're just really, really good friends."

Cayne was previously in a long-term relationship with a club DJ named Marco and said her dream man is Jon Stewart. "We believe in the same things, I guess," she said of the former "Daily Show" host. "Sense of humor, politically on the right view... I just [like] that type."

In May 2015, a few weeks before Jenner appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair, Cayne got a call from a producer of Jenner's upcoming reality show "I Am Cait." The TV show was kept so tightly under wraps that she was not even told what the show was about.

"He said, 'I want to tell you something but I can't until you sign a confidentiality agreement,'" Cayne said. "It was like: 'Hmm. OK. I'm going to sign my life over before I know anything.' But I was also intrigued because of that."

Soon, the producer called her back to say that he was working on Jenner's series for E! and that the show wanted Cayne to go to a dinner at Jenner's house. The two hit it off from the start and have been close friends ever since.

Check out Cayne Sunday nights at 8/7c on "I Am Cait."