From the beginning, Nava Mau knew the role of Teri in “Baby Reindeer” had the potential to be a life-changing opportunity. The character, a love interest of Richard Gadd’s struggling protagonist, Donny Dunn, was nuanced and complex, an essential part of a story that’s ultimately about the power of telling the truth. The experience pushed Mau to be a better actor but also had a broader impact for the audience when Mau made history as the first trans and Latina woman to receive an Emmy nomination in the category of supporting actress in a limited series.
“Sometimes I feel like I sound like a broken record because I say we don’t get a lot of opportunities, but we really don’t,” Mau says. “So to be a part of something like this and for stories of trans women and trans people in general to reflect the totality of our humanity — it can be so cliché, but we are part of communities. We are in the workplace.
We are part of families. We are loved. We are loving.
We are complicated. We are flawed. And it’s rare for trans characters to reflect that reality.
” Mau, who previously starred in the HBO series “Generation,” auditioned for the role in June 2022. She was given the pilot episode and one of Teri’s later scenes, but she was so fascinated by the story that she immediately went out and bought the “Baby Reindeer” play Gadd had published in 2019. Mau eventually did two taped auditions and a chemistry read with Gadd in London, and she was struck by the.