13 Reasons Why Star Tommy Dorfman Comes Out As A Transgender Woman
The hit Netflix Original show 13 Reasons Why featured an ensemble cast of talented young stars including Tommy Dorfman who played Ryan Shaver. Tommy has since come out as a trans woman, reports The Guardian.
In an exclusive interview with TIME, Dorfman said, “Today is about clarity: I am a trans woman. My pronouns are she/her. My name is Tommy”.
The 29 year-old actress told interviewer Torrey Peters that she had been identifying privately as a woman for a year now, and that the exploration of herself happened amid overwhelming conversations online between her followers. As Dorfman chronicled her physical transformation, she also came to terms with her transforming relationship with husband Peter Zurkuhlen.
According to The Guardian, Dorfman’s marriage to Zurkuhlen underwent an incredible transformation as she reconfigured what it would mean to be married to a gay man as a trans woman. The two are still close and Zurkuhlen supports Tommy’s transition as evident from the affirming comments made online. Zurkuhlen wrote, “So much love. You are gorgeous and you are fully you.”
Tommy says she will keep her name as Tommy. In her interview with TIME, she recounts that she was named after her mother’s brother who died shortly after Tommy’s birth. “I feel very connected to that name, to an uncle who held me as he was dying,” Dorfman said.
“This is an evolution of Tommy. I’m becoming more Tommy,” she continued.
Dorfman’s transition means she will no longer play any roles that were designed for men. Her first female role will be in Sharp Stick, directed by lena Dunham, reports The Guardian. Dorfman would only play a male role in a “Cate Blanchett playing Bob Dylan” way. “Sometimes you just have to say, ‘No, this is just who I fucking am,’” she says.
