Exclusive: Baby Reindeer star explains how transphobic culture leads to violence after filming shocking scene

Nava Mau, the Emmy-nominated actress who starred as Teri in Richard Gadd’s smash-hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer, has told indy100what it was like filming one of the series’ most dramatic and shocking moments – when enraged stalker Martha (Jessica Gunning) violently attacks Donny's girlfriend and launches a tirade of misogynistic, racist and transphobic abuse at her.

“I really, really appreciated working with our stunt coordinator, Glenn [Marks] and our intimacy coordinator,” Mau tells us from a brightly lit US apartment, thanks to timezones. “We had two intimacy coordinators [Elle McAlpine and Katharine Hardman]. Having their expertise creates a space for vulnerability and ultimately safety and trust - both in facilitating that sort of bodily consent that is required between me and Jess to carry out a scene that depicts violence like that, and also to sort of enter a process, and allow my body to enter a process and not feel like I'm actually being attacked all of a sudden. It was days of prep, and it creates an entry point and an exit.”

How do you even prepare yourself - and your body – for such a process? “So, I filmed Baby Reindeer in chunks,” explains Mau. “I live in LA and so I actually did four different trips and I would prepare for whatever I was going to film on the next trip in between. I worked with my acting coach on preparing the sort of emotional landscape of the attack scene, and I kind of ended up seeing it like I was building a house, because I knew Teri was going to get knocked around and knocked over and so when that happens, I needed to be able to see all around me and know everything that was there.

“So it was really about building out all of that, that landscape of her relationship with Donny, her family history, her trauma history, the actual things that Martha was saying, the impact of physical violence, the humiliation, all of that I had to figure out emotionally, and I had note cards to sort of remind me, and then we got to build on the stunt and the technical on top of that landscape that was already there.”

Our conversation about the help Mau received on Baby Reindeer comes as she’s announced as one of the Bafta Breakthrough artists for 2024 - supported by Netflix - joining the likes of We Might Regret This star Kyla Harris and former Taskmaster contestant Mawaan Rizwan as creatives who will receive industry insights and guidance through the scheme.

Previous actors who have been a part of the initiative include Oppenheimer star Florence Pugh, Marvel actor Tom Holland and EastEnders’ Rose Ayling-Ellis.

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There’s no denying there’s power in having trans stories represented in film and television, with Heartstopperstars Yasmin Finney and Kizzy Edgell praised for their portrayals of Elle and Darcy respectively, and Will Ferrrell’s documentary with writer Harper Steele – Will & Harper – also being celebrated for its exploration of trans identities.

The importance of such representation is often emphasised amid continued attacks on the trans community in the Western world – not least in the form of president-elect Donald Trump’s recent remarks on gender-affirming care.

When asked what it means to be named a Bafta Breakthrough artist this year, Mau responds: “Living in a heteropatriarchal culture, living in a transphobic culture, leads to real world violence, and so it leaves queer and trans people having to figure out how to navigate that that kind of environment.

“And so we find power with each other, you know? We find resilience with each other,” she adds. “So when it comes to the work that I do in film and television, it matters so much that all trans people are empowered to get to work with each other and also to work in coalition with allies, because that's what we need. We cannot be isolated, we cannot be siloed. We all have to work together and that's the only way that we can resist a culture of violence.”

Mau adds that the power of the people “will never stop” when it comes to inclusivity in the media industry. “I think we’re doing it - the filmmakers, the actors, the writers,” she says. “There’s been initiatives even to build out inclusive crews.

“I think it’s the corporate structures that seem to be tightening their grip, and so they’re finding new ways to make it difficult for people to thrive, and we’re having to find new ways to navigate that,” concludes Mau.

And it’s clear the actress will continue to make an impact in the coming months. She’s been cast in the fifth series of Netflix’s You – for which she’s “very excited” – and hints there’s “hopefully a few more exciting things next year”.

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