Tommy Dorfman Would Have Transitioned 'a Lot Sooner' If She Hadn't Been Cast in 13 Reasons Why

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Tommy Dorfman says she might have announced her transition earlier if not for 13 Reasons Why.

"I think if I hadn't booked that job, I would've started transitioning a lot sooner," Dorfman, 30, told Rachel Bilson on Bilson's Broad Ideas podcast.

Dorfman played Ryan Shaver — a cisgender male character — on the Netflix teen drama, which shot her to fame. Dorfman now can see that he outpouring of love from fans of the show complicated her personal trajectory.

"I think because my work being so tied to my body and like face and like identity, and whatever I'd been identified as, it delayed some of my growth and maturation in my mid-20s," she continued. "I also think I made decisions that were just not aligned with how I really was or what I wanted — but out of fear."

RELATED: Tommy Dorfman Reintroduces Herself as a Trans Woman: 'Today Is About Clarity'

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Dorfman says her newfound fame, and the prospect of transitioning publicly, even impacted how she perceived her self and stunted her ability to live authentically.

"For me, I feel like I kind of got stuck in time for a minute, like I actually had to put lot of stuff that I maybe thought I was going to work on — or I thought I would do, or like personal developmental things — I had to kind of compartmentalize those things and put them away," she said.

"When it came to anything around dysphoria or gender or stuff that had already been really present, I was like, 'Nope, that's not for now, I'm working.'"

RELATED: Tommy Dorfman Credits Her Family for 'Accepting' Her and Inspiring Her to Be 'Gender Creative'

Dorfman announced her transition publicly in July 2021 in an interview with TIME. "For a year now, I have been privately identifying and living as a woman — a trans woman," she said.

"It's funny to think about coming out, because I haven't gone anywhere," Dorfman added. "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."