Steven Prusakowski
The Netflix series Baby Reindeer caught the world by storm. The series is based on the stage production from star, creator and writer Richard Gadd, which in turn were based on the real life experiences of the Scottish comedian.
The series centers around Donny (Gadd) who is being stalked and harassed by Martha, a middle-aged woman whom he befriends – played by Jessica Gunning. Baby Reindeer covers several heavy subjects from sexual assault, grooming, mental health, and trauma.
Through it all there is one relationship that stands out in Donny’s otherwise anxiety driven life: his romance with Terri, played by the transgender actress Nava Mau. While not without its challenges, and there are plenty, it does provide moments of pause and sweetness in a life filled with chaos. Awards Radar spoke with Mau about her work on the series, a role which she was deeply moved by because it was a trans character that was fleshed out and real, unlike some of the other surface level trans representation that makes it on screen.
Enjoy some excerpts from our conversation or you can watch to our conversation in its entirety, below.
What drew you to acting? Where did it all begin?
Nava Mau: I mean, technically it began in a kid’s production of Cats in Mexico City. My parents could tell that I was very interested in performing. I would do these, like, I would call them jokes in Spanish. And I guess it was a form of like stand up or I don’t know, like improv. When I was like three years old, I would do these performances for my family. And then I would do these sort of like drag shows where I would put on some sort of shawl or maybe my mom’s shoes. And I would pretend to be one of the pop stars that I loved. Marina Rubio and Serena and I would just put on shows for my family. That was like my job.
What about Terry specifically made you want to take on this role?
Nava Mau: So many things. I think right now, for some reason, what I’m remembering is seeing the way that Richard writes about Terry in Donny’s voice, the way that he describes her in the voiceover, the way that he describes her, you know, to other people. I don’t know that I had ever felt like a trans woman had been represented on screen in such light, you know, of of admiration and respect and love. And so that felt really powerful. And I think that the character herself, you know, she’s very strong. She’s very self-assured. She has a very clear perspective.
Yeah. And how do you think she compares to other characters who are trans that are how they’re portrayed in Hollywood? I mean, I think about what we want.
In terms of trans representation on screen is a wide range of characters and stories. And historically, we’ve seen that range be very limited and oftentimes be very harmful in its depictions of trans people. And so to me, I think Terry represents the possibility of trans representation. It’s not, you know, pigeonholed into one space and into one shade, you know.
So to me, it almost doesn’t matter how she compares to other trans characters because she stands alone. You know, and I think that that speaks in and of itself. I think that it’s meaningful that in even just the smallest details, we see on screen and in the dialogue that she has a job, that she has friends. We see her apartment. We see that she has emotional needs and feels entitled to actually try to meet her needs.
All of these kinds of base level things that make up a human being are what has not been historically afforded to trans people on screen. So that’s base level. And I think that on top of that, then for her storyline to be so fleshed out and also integral to the plot.
You know, she really is a character that serves to hold up a mirror to Donnie. And eventually I think he looks into that mirror and it’s beautiful in the story. What happens after he sort of sees himself, thanks to Terry holding up that mirror.
Was the ballet scene part of the script or is that something you brought?
Nava Mau: No, it was in the script. I will say I did ask one time I asked the director, does it have to be ballet? Because, you know, I can do other kinds of dance. But no, it did feel like a key piece of information. It’s almost like the only thing we know about Terry’s childhood is that she did ballet for 10 years and two in tap and jazz. So I just embraced that challenge.
I did ballet training. I did three classes of ballet. And I think that actually also informed her physicality in general. It made me think a lot about her posture. And it was actually kind of like my trick for getting into character whenever I would slip out if we’re about to go into a takeout, which is kind of, you know, kind of straighten up and get into the ballet posture. And it made her like a pillar. That’s how I thought of her, as a pillar.
You can see Nava Mau’s work on Baby Reindeer streaming exclusively on Netflix.
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