For Tommy Dorfman, best known for her role on Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, Thursday brings a "reintroduction to me as a woman."
Dorfman, who portrayed Ryan Shaver on the hit Netflix show, came out as transgender in an interview with Time, announcing that she uses she/her pronouns and revealing she has been "privately identifying and living as a woman" for the past year, having "made a transition medically."
The actress, who has also had roles on Love, Victor and Jane the Virgin, told Time that "today is about clarity," describing transitioning as "liberating and clarifying" while noting that she will still be going by the name Tommy.
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"I'm not changing my name," Dorfman said. "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."
Dorfman also explained that she "feared that by actively transitioning in my personal life, I would lose whatever career I've been told I'm supposed to have." But she explained that she is "no longer interested in playing 'male' characters," noting that an upcoming project she's working on with Lena Dunham will mark "my first role as a girl." She added, "Sometimes you just have to say, 'No, this is just who I f---ing am.'"
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