When Tommy Dorfman talks about theatre, there is a brightness that overtakes her, a spark that feels both timeless and urgently now. 鈥淚 took a really long break from acting, like four years," Dorfman recalls. "I knew that when I came back to acting, I wanted it to be on stage.鈥�
And what a return it has been. Dorfman, best known for her breakout role playing Ryan Shaver in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, stands as a radiant example of resilience, artistry, and joy. Whether wielding Shakespearean daggers (both verbal and physical) in Romeo + Juliet on Broadway, breathing life into a Hasidic trans woman鈥檚 story in Becoming Eve Off-Broadway, or offering up her own hard-won truths in a memoir鈥攖his performer reminds audiences that every stage (literal and metaphorical) is better, braver, and brighter when genuine and earnest voices are at its center.
Making her Broadway debut this past season in Romeo and Juliet alongside Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler, Dorfman played not one, but two wildly contrasting roles: the fiery Tybalt and the nurturing Nurse. "I sprained my ankle second week of previews," Dorfman laughs. "We were everywhere, falling from things, climbing up things, breaking things, sweating, a bloody mess."
Even through injury and exhaustion, Dorfman found purpose. "I think the beauty of theatre, at least for me as a performer, is that it allows me an outlet for my own personal frustrations, grief, joys as well." That love of theatre has stayed with her through personal struggles. At a young age, Dorfman struggled with addiction before seeking help and becoming sober at 21. Years later, she began her gender transition at age 28, which was pushed into the public spotlight due to her popularity from 13 Reasons Why. Dorfman鈥檚 addiction recovery and transition are now centered in her new memoir, Maybe This Will Save Me. Though open about her life and career as a trans woman, she admitted feeling fearful when she performed in the recent revival of Romeo + Juliet.
鈥淲hen the election happened, she says, 鈥渢he [show鈥檚] sentiment of 鈥榯he youth are fucked鈥� felt very real to me, in a way that maybe it hadn't felt as real when we were starting the rehearsal process.鈥�
Dorfman explained that once the new administration came into office, she felt a definite shift. 鈥淚 felt really confident about not taking things personally and knowing that my work was enough. That I was enough. Until the inauguration, and in those first couple of weeks, there was such an influx of anti-trans legislation. So quickly.鈥�
While most performers on Broadway have the limited protection of being on a raised stage while performing, Dorfman and the company of Romeo + Juliet were arms length away from their audience. Often, the cast immersed themselves into the audience, running into the house, standing on flats beside seated guests, and lying down directly in front of audience members. The close distance between performer and audience could enhance the energy for an actor鈥檚 performance, but for Dorfman, the proximity did the opposite. It slowly became an anxious distraction. A fear of audience members, who may have never seen a trans woman on a stage before, began to slowly enter her consciousness.
鈥淣ot knowing that there was going to be a trans woman playing Tybalt and the Nurse, or even knowing who those characters are, or even knowing if I was trans or investigating that,鈥� she says, taking a moment to take a breath. 鈥淚 did feel an incredible amount of vulnerability the last month and a half of shows, because it just felt like my body was being investigated in a very different way.鈥�
It was the first time that Dorfman felt scared to be on stage. 鈥淚 had a panic attack. I've never had that on stage,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淚 didn't know what to do.鈥�
The first thing Dorfman did was call director Sam Gold for advice and guidance. 鈥淪am was like, 鈥楲ook, I think you need to do whatever you need to do to protect yourself.鈥� But Gold did have a suggestion. 鈥淗e told me, 鈥業 don't know what it's like to be in your shoes, but can your art be your protest?鈥� That note changed her performance, as she says with a laugh: 鈥淚 could approach my work more as like a 鈥榝uck you鈥� to the administration and to the never-ending transphobic rhetoric. It felt like just existing on stage and taking up that space and inviting people into that experience could give them a different perspective.鈥�
Her portrayal of Tybalt and the Nurse was not merely a showcase of range; it was a deeply personal experience. "I love playing boys. I love playing like a violent, angry man. I'm just so not like that in my normal life," Dorfman says. "I had a lot of rage to put into Tybalt鈥攁t the world, at America, politics, human rights, trans rights."
Dorfman found strength in the distinction between the two characters and was surprised to learn more about herself through both portrayals. 鈥淸As the Nurse] getting to be a mother figure, a maternal figure to Juliet, and having this experience that I haven't had in my real life, but something that I aspire to is the greatest gift of my job as an actor, because I get to kind of try things out, see what it feels like to really mother somebody and care for somebody in that way that鈥sn't my dog or my cat!鈥�
Following that celebrated Broadway run, Dorfman made another leap by immediately starring Off-Broadway in Becoming Eve at the New York Theatre Workshop. Based on Abby Chava Stein's memoir, the play explores one trans woman's journey coming out to her Hasidic Jewish community, and how she is ostracized because of it. "It's the story of her finding herself and also trying to come out to her father," explains Dorfman. That play, like Romeo + Juliet, had a star cast, including Judy Kuhn, Brandon Uranowitz, and Richard Schiff, who played Dorfman鈥檚 father in the show.
In playing a real person, Dorfman spent a lot of time with Stein. "I spent a lot of time with her, just observing her," Dorfman shares. They even ventured into Williamsburg, where Stein grew up and spent her life as a member of the Hasidic Jewish faith, to better explain and help Dorfman understand the life that she left to become her authentic self.
Performing and leading the company in Becoming Eve demanded everything from Dorfman: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. "I don't leave the stage for almost two hours," she notes. "I'm playing a character from three to 25, and it's very emotional."
Between shows, Dorfman鈥檚 self-care was simple but essential. "I go home, I lay on my couch, doomscroll on TikTok with my cat and dog," she says with a laugh. But Dorfman also had other analog ways to decompress from the show. Sometimes, the escape comes through books. "I just finished reading the new Hunger Games book in, like, a day," she adds.
But Dorfman is not only bringing different characters to life onstage. She is telling her own story in a new memoir, Maybe This Will Save Me, that was released May 27.
Dorfman has been writing the memoir since 2020. She describes it as a candid and fearless collection of essays. 鈥淸I鈥檓] trying to understand love and recovery from addiction and identity and how I got to where I am today. I approached it by investigating my own life and also a way to process. Dorman admits that her initial idea was to recount the 鈥渃razy shit鈥� she did in her younger years, so that younger (and maybe some older) readers don鈥檛 make similar mistakes. But Dorfman adds with a grin, "Then as I was writing it, I was like, oh, there's actually a lot more depth here."
"Addiction and recovery is at the center of the book," she explains. "Identity is obviously there, trans [experience] is there." For Dorfman, sharing her truth is about offering a lifeline to others going through similar struggles. "The way that really helped me understand my own addiction was through hearing other people's stories."
In turn, it鈥檚 what she hopes her work will also bring to audiences: 鈥淕etting to process what was going on in the outside world through my work in Romeo and Juliet, through my work in Becoming Eve, I think has really saved me the last eight months. And I know from audience members, DMs and letters and fan mail, and a myriad of other videos and things like that鈥攊t鈥檚 helping a lot of other people, and that feels like the greatest gift.鈥�
It is clear to see that Dorfman鈥檚 career鈥攚hether on stage, screen, or as a writer鈥攊s just beginning. And as she reflects on the past season, Dorfman says she is thankful for everything, the good and the bad.
鈥淚 like to torture myself and work through any and all conditions, and see what happens. But I think, for me, what happens on the other side of that tends to be momentous and beautiful and powerful. And I鈥檝e realized that I'm capable of doing more than I ever thought I could.鈥�
