Nava Mau (Mexico City, 32 years old) describes her ideas and ambitions as “epic.” The actress has the dream of making science fiction and belonging to an ensemble cast, plans that years ago seemed difficult to achieve but —after participating in one of the most watched series on Netflix— the outlook has become more optimistic.
The Mexican played Teri in Baby Reindeer, the production based on real events that exposes the harassment that comedian Richard Gadd suffered years ago. Mau’s character is a transgender woman who begins a relationship with the protagonist, Donny, while he is struggling with her sexuality and the trauma left by a violent incident from her past. “Patriarchy dictates that men should dominate and should never be victims, but in reality, patriarchy makes men victims too. I felt that reality within the script and it was a great honor to be part of Richard’s story through Donny and Teri’s relationship. “I myself felt very represented by the character of Teri,” Nava Mau said in a video call interview with EL PAÍS.
On social media, many viewers have said that Teri is “the best part” of Baby Reindeer, since the strength and compassion that the actress brought to the role breaks the tension that the main character experiences. Although Mau is very grateful for the reception her performance received, she also recognizes that the “happy ending” of Teri, who is empowered to prioritize her emotional needs, is not so common when stories of the LGTBIQ community are told in audiovisual media. . “Unfortunately I think that a narrative of trans people has been created that can cause dehumanization,” explains the activist. “In reality we are human beings like everyone else. It is very powerful to see a character like Teri — who is a trans woman — go through all of these experiences, because then there is no doubt that she is a human being like everyone else. I hope that encourages people to recognize that trans people belong and have always been here. We deserve to be part of our communities, our families and our countries,” she noted.
Dignifying trans representation on screen
Although Nava Mau’s rise to fame came thanks to the role of Teri, she actually decided to enter the entertainment industry years ago, to materialize opportunities that truly represented her community. “I felt the need to create a change in the industry. “I was inspired by leaders like Shonda Rhimes, who paved the way to change the type of representation we see on screen, and I felt like I wanted to join those efforts,” she shared. In 2019 she wrote, directed and starred in the short film Waking Hour, in which it tells the story of a girl who debates whether it is worth getting involved with a stranger at a party, with the risk that this implies in a society in which cases of transphobia still abound. The actress also participated in the production of Disclosure: Being Trans in Hollywoodthe Netflix documentary that analyzes the evolution of trans representation on screen.
For many years the entertainment industry was governed by the Hays Code, a manual that prohibited the depiction of homosexual relationships in film and television. In response to censorship, the queer coding to imply the existence of people from the community, however, most of these characters were reduced to being villains or victims. Over time this problem has improved, but many studies insist on focusing on the tragic side of LGTBIQ stories, with Euphoria, The House of the Dragon and Supernatural among some recent examples.
Mau celebrates that progress is being made in Mexico in trans representation on television. This year, Televisa premiered the soap opera Love Has No Recipein which a transgender woman has a heartfelt romance, and in 2023 Wendy Guevara won the reality show The House of the Famous by 18 million votes. The night of his victory, Mexicans gathered at the Angel of Independence, the stage in the capital that is usually reserved for celebrating soccer games, in his honor. “It is important to take into account what we are nourishing ourselves with, and I think it is important that the representation of the stories queer and trans are something that feeds our hearts. Many want to attack us, and many of us are fighting, so we need something to maintain our strength. I think we have to focus on that, we have to continue in that direction of knowing that acceptance is possible and that in fact this improves the entire community, if we can live in harmony,” Mau mentioned.
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