Emmy history in the making: Nava Mau (‘Baby Reindeer’) will be first trans nominee for a limited series
Since being added to Gold Derby’s Emmy predictions center in late April, Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” has cemented its status as one of this year’s strongest overall contenders. Based on its first-round ballot entries, the Best Limited Series frontrunner can earn up to four acting notices, all of which would go to total Emmy newcomers. Included in the eligible cast is supporting actress Nava Mau, who is set to blaze a trail as the first trans acting Emmy nominee for a limited series or TV movie.
“Baby Reindeer” serves as Mau’s second small screen credit following her regular stint on the short-lived Max series “Generation.” She appears in five of the Netflix show’s seven episodes as Teri, a confident therapist who dates main character Donny (series creator Richard Gadd, playing a version of himself) at a time when his feelings of repressed trauma and sexual confusion are exacerbated by his complex relationship with a stalker.
Mau will have been preceded by just three other trans performers who achieved Primetime Emmy recognition outside of the movie/limited categories. The first was Laverne Cox, who made history in 2014 as a Best Comedy Guest Actress contender for “Orange is the New Black.” After losing that contest to her own cast mate, Uzo Aduba, she received three nominations in the corresponding drama category for the same series, ultimately coming up short against Alexis Bledel (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” 2017) and Cherry Jones (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” 2019; “Succession,” 2020).
Also nominated in 2020 was trans actress Rain Valdez, who landed a bid for starring in her self-produced short form YouTube series “Razor Tongue.” The winner in that case was Jasmine Cephas Jones of Quibi’s “#FreeRayshawn.” One year later, “Pose” star Michaela Jaé Rodriguez became the first trans nominee in any of the 12 main lead and supporting categories by competing against eventual Best Drama Actress victor Olivia Colman (“The Crown”).
Once she presumably becomes her category’s first trans representative, Mau will of course have the potential to be the first such performer to ever win a Primetime Emmy. Based on the current Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actress predictions of over 3,000 Gold Derby users, she ranks safely in fifth place with 9/1 odds while her cast mate, Jessica Gunning, is in first at 11/2. The fact that they are in this together bodes well for the pair given that their category has already seen more than three dozen costar showdowns, including recent ones involving duos from “Welcome to Chippendales,” “Dopesick,” “Hamilton,” and “Mare of Easttown.”
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