It was an emotional moment for Laverne Cox, E! News’s Emmys red carpet host, when actress Nava Mau joined her for a live interview.
In 2014, Cox became the first openly trans person to receive an Emmy nomination for acting. She scored her nom in the Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category for playing Sophia Burset on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. She’d go on to receive three more nominations for the role.
Now, 10 years later, Nava Mau has the honor of being the first trans woman up for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series. She was nominated for her role as Teri on Netflix’s Baby Reindeer.
The symmetry in their nominations was not lost on Cox, who began her interview with Mau by repeatedly saying, “I’m so proud of you.”
The two actresses then took a moment to discuss the importance of Mau’s nomination and role in the hit limited series. “What we’ve been fighting for as a community is to be able to tell stories that come from the heart and that are based from a human foundation,” Mau said. “Because that’s who we are as trans people. We are humans first and foremost.”
Cox and Mau’s connection goes even further than their nominations. As Cox noted in the interview, Mau worked on Disclosure, Netflix’s 2020 documentary about trans representation on screen that featured Cox.
Mau told Cox of the documentary, “It changed my life.” Specifically, Mau praised the experience as an opportunity to see “trans people in leadership” and trans professionals discussing their work in Hollywood, including Cox.
“I got to see you walk in all of your grace and all of your power,” Mau said. “I saw that I could dream bigger for myself than what I had dreamt for myself before that, and it changed me forever.”
Check out all of our Emmys coverage here.
