Mexican actress Nava Mau offers a shining example of why it is important to fight for change, not just within the entertainment industry, but on a local level as well.
The 32-year-old recently starred alongside Richard Gadd in the hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer, for she won the “Breakthrough Performance” award at the Critics Choice’s inaugural celebration of LGBTQ+ cinema and television.
Speaking about her role as Teri, she told Marie Claire, “It seemed really important to show people that trans women exist in real life and in relationships with real people.”
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Prior to that, Mau, who is trans, worked on a variety of shows and programs, including writing, directing, and starring in her own short film “Waking Hour,” which premiered at Outfest in 2019 and appeared in multiple other festivals around the world.
Mau also played Ana on the short-lived HBO series Generation, a show that tackled growing up queer in a conservative community.
In an interview with Flaunt, she talked about the importance of queer and trans visibility on Generation, and the general state of inclusion of diverse voices in the entertainment industry.
“I think we’ve seen barriers broken down that up until recently felt impossible to overcome, so it is very exciting to think about what may be possible sooner than we think,” she said.
“The potential for storytelling on screen feels like it has burst wide open…It feels like we are getting to witness each other’s humanity in ways that are more intimate and complex than ever before.”
She continued, “Ten years ago, it didn’t even occur to me to pursue acting professionally. It just wasn’t an option. I was a genderqueer, very hairy nerd with no path in the entertainment industry…Then the world changed, and I changed.”
“Laverne Cox appeared on Orange Is the New Black, and countless other trans artists created a new reality both on and off-screen. It’s wild to think that all of this has happened in the past eight years. There’s no question that we will continue to see massive changes in the opportunities available to trans artists.”
“We have to keep fighting for them. My advice to young trans artists is this: be smart, be selective, and tell the truth. Never stop telling the truth.”
Before pursuing a career in entertainment, Mau received her BA in Communication and Linguistics and Competitive Science from Pomona College, after studying in Paris and conducting research in Guadalajara, Mexico.
She worked with survivors of violence for three years; first as a legal assistant for immigrants, and then as a peer counselor and advocate for LGBTQ+ survivors of violence in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In addition to that, Mau has also worked in curriculum development, workshop dialogue facilitation, and public speaking.
Her fierce advocacy for the trans community both on a local level and in the entertainment industry proves she is an incredible asset to the LGBTQ+ community and someone we are proud of. We can’t get enough of her amazing work and look forward to seeing her succeed even more in the years to come.
