Nearly a month after Baby Reindeer debuted to critical acclaim and boffo ratings, Nava Mau is still trying to wrap her mind around its success.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people’s responses,” the actor told HuffPost. “It’s incredible that people are engaging with the story in their own language and in their own way. That’s all you can ever hope for as an artist.”
As Mau suggests, few recent series have generated as much feverish discourse among viewers as Baby Reindeer, unveiled on Netflix on 11 April. The psychological thriller follows fledging comedian and bartender Donny Dunn (played by Richard Gadd), who becomes an object of infatuation for a middle-aged, socially inept woman, Martha (Jessica Gunning).
Over the course of the show’s seven episodes, Martha’s seemingly playful crush on Donny escalates into full-blown stalking, both at his workplace and his home. Donny’s only solace is his girlfriend, Teri (Mau), a therapist who is transgender.
Much of the buzz on Baby Reindeer has emphasised the ways in which Martha’s unhinged, increasingly violent behaviour ends up forcing Donny to confront his own unresolved trauma, which stems from having been the victim of sexual assault. The series is an adaptation of Gadd’s one-man stage play, which was loosely ― and perhaps controversially ― based on his real-life experiences with a stalker in his early 20s.
At the same time, Baby Reindeer also presents a rarity in mainstream television in its nuanced portrayal of the relationship between Donny and Teri, who is the show’s most empathetic figure and a moral compass. Gadd, who is bisexual in real life, has confirmed that the woman who inspired the character of Teri was, in fact, transgender.
“It felt like the first time I’ve read a character who felt like she’d been written by somebody who’d actually known and loved a trans woman, so I fell in love with her, too,” Mau said.
“I don’t think that means she’s got it all figured out. I don’t think that means that she always makes the best decisions. But at the very least, she loves herself enough to allow herself to take a leap and fall, because she knows she can get right back up again.”
Still, one point of contention among some viewers is whether Baby Reindeer depicts Donny’s attraction to Teri as possibly being the result of his experience being sexually abused by another man. A mostly positive NPR review argued that the series “repeatedly and clumsily conflates the horror of abuse with the simple fact of queer sexuality.”
Mau, for her part, offers a different take.
“The story that’s being told about Teri and Donny’s relationship is based on a truthfulness that’s rare to see on-screen,” she said. “I think there’s real power in that.”
She went on to note: “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 – who grew up in Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas – has been turning her attention behind the camera lately, too. Earlier this month, she appeared in All The Words But The One, a short film she also wrote and directed, at the 2024 Maryland Film Festival.
“It explores questions about intimate partner violence, healing, accountability and forgiveness,” she said. “I specifically set out to write a character who hasn’t gone on the healing journey that I’ve gone on, and hasn’t had the kind of support that I’ve had, and finds herself in a new relationship without having healed the wounds of her past relationship.”
Though Mau admitted she was “still taking in what’s happening” in terms of her newfound fame, she’s hoping that the praise she’s received for Baby Reindeer will lay the groundwork for future projects.
“The reason I came to the world of television and film was to tell stories that inspire change, that empower Black and brown queer and trans people, that encourage us to have more grace with each other,” she said. “As a trans Latina woman, the roles that are available to me are very limited.”
“It’s common for someone like me to be very underestimated, to have to prove myself 10 times over,” she continued. “So I hope this work that I’ve done gives the people who make the decisions a little more confidence, because I’ve had that confidence.”