Actor Tommy Dorfman has come out as
transgender.
Dorfman, 29, is best known for playing
Ryan Shaver on the Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why.
In a new interview with TIME, Dorfman,
who came out as non-binary in 2017, said that she identifies as a
woman.
“For a year now, I have been
privately identifying and living as a woman – a trans woman,”
Dorfman said.
“It’s funny to think about coming
out, because I haven’t gone anywhere. 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. Today is about clarity: I am a
trans woman. My pronouns are she/her. My name is Tommy,” she said.
Dorfman said that she worried her
transition would mean the end of her acting career.
“But I'm no longer interested in
playing 'male' characters – except for maybe in a 'Cate Blanchett
playing Bob Dylan' way,” she said. “Sometimes you just have to
say, 'No, this is just who I fucking am.'”
Dorfman said that she and her husband
Peter Zurkuhlen have 'redefined' their relationship to one of
friendship.
“It’s wild to be 29 and going
through puberty again. Some days I feel like I’m 14. As a result of
that shift, the types of romantic partnerships I seek out are
different," Dorfman
explained.
"I was in a nine-year relationship
in which I was thought of as a more male-bodied person, with a gay
man. I love him so much, but we’ve been learning that as a trans
woman, what I’m interested in is not necessarily reflected in a gay
man. So we’ve had incredible conversations to redefine our
relationship as friends.
"Transitioning has been liberating
and clarifying,” she added.