Wayward’s Mae Martin Opens Up About Their ‘Life or Death’ Surgery: ‘People Don’t Get to Those Decisions Lightly
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Wayward has shot up to No. 1 on Netflix most most-watched shows just hours after its release. And most of the spotlight has been on comedian Mae Martin.
Martin, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, plays a trans cop Alex Dempsey, who moves to the peculiar community of Tall Pines with his wife Laura, where they unravel secrets with teens Leile (Alyvia Alyn Lind) and Abbie (Sydney Topliffe). In some scenes, Alex takes off his shirt which shows his top surgery scars. “It’s important to me that … if I’m portraying a queer character, that’s just one small aspect of their identity and it’s not the focus — I don’t want to give anyone an excuse to switch off and relegate the show to some niche,” Martin told The Wrap. “I just hope that people relate to him … that’s the best way to get people to humanize trans people, which seem seems like a crazy thing to say.”
Why did Mae Martin get surgery for their breasts?
Mae Martin got top surgery for gender affirming healthcare. As host for Canada’s documentary series Fluid: Life Beyond the Binary, Martin opened up about the dangers of denying gender affirming healthcare to trans and non-binary folks.
“If you talk to any young trans people, it really becomes clear pretty quickly that this is just about people trying to be authentic and happy,” they told The Globe and Mail. “People don’t get to those decisions lightly about undergoing any kind of medical intervention. For me, it was at a point where it felt pretty life or death.”
Martin is pretty transparent about their journey in gender-affirming healthcare as a non-binary person. The actor got top surgery when they were filming HBO’s The Flight Attendant in 2022. However, they did use binder on the project before they got the surgery. “It’s so not the most interesting thing about me,” Martin told GQ. “It’s just one facet of who I am. But I know also that visibility is super important. So it’s always a oversharing and over-focusing on something that’s ultimately just one small part of me.”
The actor also reflected on their decision in their Netflix comedy special Sap. “It’s been the best year of life, genuinely, and I’m 35 years old and this has been the best year of life,” they say as they get slightly emotional. “It’s not like I’m that happy, I’m not like, skipping around. It’s truly just like, the absence of agony, that’s all it is. And that’s a low bar, and who are we to deny anybody that?”
Martin has also responded to criticism about the top surgery decision on social media. “Mae was also a genuinely lovely soul before they had their breasts surgically removed. It makes me wonder – why can’t a non-binary person have breasts? 🤔” one person posted on Twitter, now X. Martin quote-tweeted it saying, “I didn’t realise my soul resided in my breasts, damn…”
