Tommy Dorfman would have ‘transitioned sooner’ if it wasn’t for 13 Reasons Why role

Tommy Dorfman has said she would have “transitioned a lot sooner” if she hadn’t landed her role on Netflix’s teen drama, 13 Reasons Why.

The 30-year-old actor starred as classmate Ryan Shaver in the 2017 series, which follows the aftermath of high-schooler Hannah Baker’s (Katherine Langford) death by suicide.

In a recent appearance on the podcast Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson, Dorfman explained how her “growth” and “maturation” were delayed by her Hollywood career.

“In those early years of working, I was just trying to understand [myself],” she said, adding that 13 Reasons Why was her first real job.

“I think if I hadn’t booked that job I would have transitioned a lot sooner,” she reflected. “I think because of my work being so tied to my body and face and identify, or whatever [a character] identified as, it delayed some of my growth and some of my maturation in my twenties.”

She said: “I made decisions that were just not aligned with how I really was or what I wanted – but out of fear.”

Dorfman reintroduced herself as a trans woman in July 2021 in a Time interview with author Torrey Peters.

“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 at the time.

In February, Dorfman’s husband of five years, Peter Zurkuhelen, filed for divorce.

13 Reasons Why is available to stream on Netflix.