Baby Reindeer star reveals deleted scene that gives ‘closure’ to characters

Hit Netflix miniseries ended on an ambiguous note

Actor Nava Mau has described a deleted scene that was cut out of the recent Netflix miniseries Baby Reindeer.

In the hit Netflix drama, Mau plays Teri, a trans woman who begins dating the series’ main character Donny, played by the show’s creator Richard Gadd.

Baby Reindeer is based on Gadd’s real-life experiences, and explores his traumatic years-long experiences with a stalker (played by Jessica Gunning), as well as his history as a victim of sexual abuse.

After a turbulent romance, Teri and Donny ultimately break up in the series, and Teri is fleetingly seen dating someone else.

Speaking to GQ, Mau revealed that they had actually shot a scene that would have taken place after the events of the show, and would have provided “closure” for the arc of Donny and Teri’s relationship.

“There actually was one more piece of Teri and Donny’s relationship in the script, and I performed it,” Mau said. “Teri leaves Donny a voicemail five months later. So I think, for me, I got closure because Teri did too. That’s what gave me so much comfort, knowing that they found peace with regards to their relationship.”

She continued: “Teri got her happy ending, you know? Teri found a new man, she didn’t lose her friends, she didn’t lose her job, she didn’t lose her smile. She’s good. And I think that is remarkable – because so often we’ve seen stories of trans people that end with them broken.”

Richard Gadd and Nava Mau in ‘Baby Reindeer' (Netflix)

Speaking to The Independent before the show’s release, Gadd addressed the show’s handling of Teri, and the sensitivity surrounding the plotline of a trans character.

“We had all kinds of advisors – diversity advisors, trans advisors – to make sure that what we were doing was gonna be the right thing,” he said. “But not in a way where the art felt compromised or anything was watered down. They were very good in terms of knowing the kind of complicated story we were trying to tell.”

In the weeks since its release, Baby Reindeer has been at the centre of a controversy, as fans sought to track down the real identities of people depicted in the show despite Gadd urging them not to.

Pointless star and author Richard Osman claimed that “everyone” in the entertainment industry knew the figure who inspired Baby Reindeer’s abusive character Darrien.