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13 Reasons Why Star Tommy Dorfman Confirms She Has Been Living As A Woman

13 Reasons Why Star Tommy Dorfman Confirms She Has Been Living As A Woman

Tommy Dorfman is known for playing Ryan Shaven on Netflix hit 13 Reasons Why

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman has announced that she is a transgender woman in a new interview.

Fans will know Dorfman as the actor who played Ryan Shaver on the smash hit Netflix show, but she has now clarified to TIME that she is transgender, and has been living and 'privately identifying' as a trans woman.

Dorfman, who is also set to star in Lena Dunham's Sharp Stick told the publication: "For a year now, I have been privately identifying and living as a woman - a trans woman.

"I've been living in this other version of coming out where I don't feel safe enough to talk about it, so I just do it.

"But I recognise that transitioning is beautiful.

"Why not let the world see what that looks like?"

TIME

"So I kept, on Instagram, a diaristic time capsule instead - one that shows a body living in a more fluid space."

She 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.

"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 also explained her decision to keep the same name, adding: "I'm not changing my name. I'm named after my mom's brother who passed a month after I was born, and I feel very connected to that name, to an uncle who held me as he was dying.

"This is an evolution of Tommy. I'm becoming more Tommy."

TIME

She also moved to address any potential speculation about which roles she would go for in future, ruling out playing a male role again.

Dorfman explained: "It's impossible for me to separate my personal and professional transition, because my body and face are linked to my career.

"I'm most recognised 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 f***ing am.'

"I'm especially grateful to every single trans person who walked this path, broke down barriers, and risked their lives to live authentically and radically as themselves before me."

You can read the full interview with TIME here.

Featured Image Credit: TIME

Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, US Entertainment, Netflix