Nava Mau: ‘Baby Reindeer’ was ‘everything you could ever hope for as an actor’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“Baby Reindeer” has been the breakout hit of the spring. Based on comedian Richard Gadd‘s real experience with a female stalker and adapted from his one-man show, the Netflix series accrued 22 million views the last week of April, a 65 percent increase from the previous week, and Nava Mau, who plays Teri on the show, understands why it has struck a chord with fans. She knew it was something special when she first read the script.
“I think I probably felt something similar to what a lot of people feel watching the show, which is overcome with emotion and intrigue,” Mau tells Gold Derby (watch the exclusive video interview above). “And I just could hear and feel Richard’s voice so clearly. When you’re reading that script, it’s kind of like getting to read inside his diary in a sense, especially with the voiceover. So then to see there’s this character of Teri, who’s a part of the story in such a meaningful way, it was just everything you could ever hope for as an actor.”
Teri is a trans woman Donny (Gadd) falls for after meeting on a trans dating site. In a voiceover, Donny describes Teri, who is based on a real trans woman Gadd dated, as “smart, funny, confident and strong.” Mau captures all those qualities with her vivid and assured performance — qualities that are not typically used to describe trans characters in TV and film. The actress, who previously starred on Max’s “Generation,” was a production fellow on the 2020 documentary “Disclosure,” which examined the stereotypically negative and dehumanizing depictions of trans people onscreen and how they’ve conditioned public perception.
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“I think people use a lot of hateful words to describe us. Whether or not they truly believe it, I think that the rhetoric has been shaped by hate and stigma when it comes to trans people,” Mau says. “And so to see a description of a character like that, which, it’s kind of simple terms, you know? Funny, smart, strong. But it feels affirming to know that people do see us. Trans people for so long, I think, we’ve had to fight to be seen as even just human. And so for our power to be affirmed and for our beauty and intellect and humor to be celebrated, I think is still such a meaningful push for the culture.”
In one of the most harrowing scenes of the limited series, Teri is verbally and physically attacked by Martha (Jessica Gunning), the woman stalking Donny. It was Mau’s first time performing a stunt — and she first met Gunning during the stunt training — but she was most nervous about portraying Teri’s devastation.
“I was really concerned that I would not be able to get to the emotional place because … that moment is when we see her break. And I was nervous about it, so I was working really hard to prepare and I remember my acting coach said, ‘Actually, you just need to let yourself go on that ride on the day. It’s going to take you there if you let it.” And so it kinda become more about focusing on the technical and the stunt training was so much fun,” Mau shares. “In some ways because it was so new and it was my first time, when we filmed it, it just felt so raw, like I really was experiencing that for the first time. And so separately with the emotional piece, I just had little notecards to remind me of where I needed to be and it just let me go.”
Donny’s shame and self-loathing prevent him and Teri from continuing their relationship. Teri has the happiest endings of the characters — something also not usually afforded trans characters — as Donny spots her out and about with her new boyfriend. There was supposed to be more of Teri in the finale as she leaves Donny a voicemail after his breakdown video goes viral, but the scene was cut. “I think that it is so beautiful that we get to see Donny’s continued process after they break up. It’s not like she’s gone and she’s gone from his heart. There’s a process there and we see that in the scene where Donny breaks down onstage,” Mau says. “I did get to have my side of closure because there was a voicemail that was in the script that I actually got to perform that Teri leaves for Donny after the viral video comes out, and so for me, I have it and that’s my relationship to that story.”
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