Tommy Dorfman officially announced the medical transition in 2021, also starting her new career as an actress.
In 2021 she officially announced her path of medical transition, presenting herself to the world as a woman: Tommy Dorfman, the interpreter of Ryan Shaver in the TV series Thirteen – 13 reasons why aired on Netflix, finally manages to recognize herself fully.
She has conquered what has always been her true identity, continuing to build her career as an actress with determination while venturing into new projects and becoming the spokesperson for all those who have lived and are living the same experience herself. She is proud to be a symbol.
Career of Tommy Dorfman
Tommy Dorfman was born on May 13, 1992, in Atlanta.
In 2015 she graduated from Fordham University in New York, completing the theater program.
In 2016 he made his debut on the small screen playing the role of Ryan Shaver in the series Thirteen.
He also appeared in the second season of the television series Insatiable, playing the character of Jonathan.
Also passionate about fashion, in 2017, she created a collection for Asos. In the same year, he received the Rising Star Award from Glaad.
In 2019, she was cast for the role of Nick in the Lifetime series American Princess, but it closed its doors after just one season.
In 2020 she starred in an episode of the TV series Love, Victor and the miniseries Love in the Time of the crown, set in the period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lena Dunham was the first to assign her apart: in the movie Sharp Stick, released in 2022, Tommy Dorfman plays the bartender Tali.
2022 was also the year she launched an inclusive shoe line created in collaboration with Simon Miller: pop and original footwear, available up to size 45.
Also a photographer, the American actress has made several covers for Paper Magazine, Fucking Young!, and American Studies.
She also likes to try her hand as a model: she has posed, for example, for advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein and Fendi.
In the summer of 2021, Tommy Dorfman came out via an interview with Time’s Torrey Peters and an Instagram post.
On social media, she declared herself “excited to present me again as the woman I am today” and then asked to address her with feminine pronouns and put on paper her gratitude for “every single trans person who has traveled before me this path, broke the barriers and risked her life to be herself authentically and radically.”
Tommy then underlined his “thank you” to “all the trans women who have shown me who I am, how to live, celebrate myself and occupy space in this world.”
At Time, she revealed that her transition path began in 2020: “For a year, in private, I have identified and lived as a trans woman.”
She called the thought of coming out “funny” because “I didn’t go anywhere. Coming out is considered a revelation, but I have never hidden. For me, it represents only my presenting myself to the world as a woman after the medical transition.”
Unlike many other people who have gone through the same experience, the Thirteen actresses hasn’t changed her name.
And she never will, for a particular reason. «Tommy – she explained during the interview with Time – is also the name of my uncle, who died a month after my birth.
I have a strong connection with this name and don’t want it to be any different. It will be another revolution. I’ll be even more, Tommy. ‘
Tommy Dorfman: Divorce from Peter Zurkuhlen
In February 2022, Tommy Dorfman and Peter Zurkuhlen filed for divorce after about five years of marriage.
They met in 2005 through mutual friends, got engaged in 2015, and married in November 2016 in an intimate ceremony held in Portland, Maine.
On the long road to transition, Peter has always stood by Tommy.
They supported her enthusiastically and declared themselves proud and happy for her because “she is wonderful and completely herself.”
The crucial decision, as the actress herself recounted, benefited their relationship.
On the one hand, she felt like she was living second adolescence; on the other, the bond was strengthened and renewed: “This transition was liberating and clarifying for our relationship as well.”
Why the harmony and certainties gave way to a breakup happened in the following period is unknown.
In May 2022, Tommy Dorfman debuted on the red carpet of the Met Gala wearing a Christopher Kane dress as a true dark lady, and she appeared physically in splendid shape.
Still, more than someone noticed a veil of melancholy in her eyes. After all, she was in the thick of her closing with her husband. But are we sure it’s a definitive goodbye?
