Baby Reindeer’s trans star Nava Mau says there’s ‘real power’ in Teri and Donny’s romance

Trans actress Nava Mau, who stars as Teri in Richard Gadd’s hit Netflix drama Baby Reindeer, has said there’s “real power” in the relationship between Teri and Donny.

Mau plays the American therapist dating Gadd’s character Donny in the hit drama, which is based on Gadd’s real experience of being physically and virtually stalked by a mentally ill woman. 

In an interview with HuffPost, Mau explained why the rare onscreen depicition of a cisgender man dating a transgender woman had “real power”.

“The story that’s being told about Teri and Donny’s relationship is based on a truthfulness that’s rare to see on-screen. I think there’s real power in that,” she said. 

The actress continued: “It’s not surprising that there are so many cisgender men in the world who don’t know how to deal with the shame and stigma that has been placed on trans people and those who love us.

“There’s no handbook, and oftentimes there’s no support, there’s no understanding. We’re all just figuring it out along the way.” 

Mau has previously reflected on the “important” responsibility she felt playing a real-life trans person and she has also shared details of a deleted scene which offers more insight into the end of their relationship.

In an interview with GQ, the trans actress shared that her character found a happy ending after leaving Donny a voicemail five months after their relationship ended. 

“Teri got her happy ending, you know? Teri found a new man, she didn’t lose her friends, she didn’t lose her job, she didn’t lose her smile. She’s good. And I think that is remarkable, because so often we’ve seen stories of trans people that end with them broken,” she shared. 

The woman believed to be the inspiration for stalker Martha Scott has labelled the show “a load of rubbish”. As a result she has claimed that she has plans to sue Netflix and Gadd.

Baby Reindeer is available for streaming on Netflix now.