Tommy Dorfman is opening up about being a trans woman. The 13 Reasons Why star spoke to Detransition, Baby author Torrey Peters about her gender in an interview for Time magazine, saying she has “been privately identifying and living as a woman†for the past year. “It’s funny to think about coming out, because I haven’t gone anywhere,†she said. “I view today as a reintroduction to me as a woman, having made a transition medically. Coming out is always viewed as this grand reveal, but I was never not out.†Dorfman added that her pronouns are she/her, and she has no plans to change her name. “This is an evolution of Tommy,†she added. “I’m becoming more Tommy.â€
Peters asked Dorfman about the decision to document her transition on Instagram before announcing it, which Dorfman characterized as creating “a diaristic time capsule … that shows a body living in a more fluid space.†However, she added, her Instagram presence led to “discourse about my body, and it began to feel overwhelming.†Of publicly transitioning, Dorfman continued, “There’s the version I couldn’t really afford to do, which is to disappear for two years and come back with a new name, new face and new body. But that’s not what I wanted.†Dorfman also posted her Time photo shoot to Instagram, with a message thanking “every single trans person who walked this path, broke down barriers, and risked their lives to live authentically and radically as themselves before me.â€
Speaking to Peters, Dorfman credited Lena Dunham with giving her her first role as a woman in Dunham’s upcoming film, Sharp Stick. “It was so exciting and validating,†Dorfman said. She added that she wants her future roles to reflect her gender. “It’s impossible for me to separate my personal and professional transition, because my body and face are linked to my career,†she said. “I’m most recognized for playing a bitchy gay poet on a soap opera, and I feared that by actively transitioning in my personal life, I would lose whatever career I’ve been told I’m supposed to have. But I’m no longer interested in playing ‘male’ characters — except for maybe in a ‘Cate Blanchett playing Bob Dylan’ way. Sometimes you just have to say, ‘No, this is just who I fucking am.’â€