Recalling the New York City incident, the 'Orange Is the New Black' star tells Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest that her driving teacher advised her to do a breathing exercise before she bailed.

• Jul 24, 2019

AceShowbiz - Actress Laverne Cox bailed on her recent driving test because she was so upset after splitting up with her boyfriend.

The "Orange Is the New Black" star and Kyle Draper parted ways after two years of dating on the eve of her test last month (June 2019), and Cox admits she wasn't in the right frame of mind to drive around New York City.

"It was the day after I broke up with my boyfriend...," she recalls. "I woke up in the morning crying, have an emergency session with my therapist, get myself together, then go and do a bunch of press and then I go to my driving lesson."

"The driving teacher met me on 25th Street and Fifth Avenue, and he's like, 'OK, check your rear view mirror... Now we're gonna drive down Fifth Avenue...' I look in the rear view mirror and I see buses and I look in front of me and there's more buses and vans, and I just was like, 'I don't think I can do this!'"

Her teacher just thought Laverne was nervous and suggested a breathing exercise to calm her down, but Cox had made up her mind: "I got my bag... and I left."

A month later, Cox still hasn't taken her test, but she hasn't lost determination to get her license.

"I think what needs to happen... I need to completely not have anything else going on that day, I need to psych myself out for the lessons and then (take the test)," she tells "Live with Kelly & Ryan". "I need to clear my schedule."

Laverne admits her lack of driving experience is beginning to hamper her acting career: "I had an acting job a couple of years ago, where the character drove and I didn't have a license, so it was an insurance issue... I don't wanna drive in real life."