Nava Mau & Laverne Cox Share Emotional Moment as They Celebrate Historic Emmys Nomination

Baby Reindeer star Nava Mau celebrated her monumental nomination at the 2024 Emmys Sunday with another star who helped pave the way.

While speaking with Laverne Cox for the E!’s broadcast of the Emmys red carpet, Cox was quick to get emotional as she embraced Mau with a hug.

“I’m supposed to keep it together, I’m the host,” a visibly teary-eyed Cox told Mau. “This show is so incredible, and the work that you do is so amazing.”

Mau made history by becoming the first Latina trans woman to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Cox, meanwhile, was notably the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an acting Emmy for Orange is the New Black at the time.

“Ten years ago I became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an acting Emmy, and 10 years later I’m not the last,” Cox told Mau. “You’re the fourth and you’re the first in this category.”

When reflecting on her nomination, Mau said, “I think that what we’ve been fighting for in the community is to be able to tell stories that come from the heart and that are based from a human foundation. Because that’s who we are as trans people. We are human first and foremost.”

Touching on the Netflix limited series, Mau celebrated the fact that Baby Reindeer, is not just a show that has a trans character but is “a really good show” overall.

“That’s what I think the best thing to celebrate about Baby Reindeer, that yes, it’s an LGBTQ show; it’s a show that has a trans character on it, and it’s also a really good show, and it’s something I’m very proud of,” she said. “And ultimately, I hope that we continue to get to be all that we are as trans people on screen.”

The red carpet moment also served as bit of a reunion for the pair, with Cox sharing that she and Mau worked on Disclosure: Trans Lives Onscreen, a 2020 film that explored trans identity in popular culture over the last century. Cox starred in the film as she offered a thorough knowledge of trans history.

“It changed my life,” Mau said of working on the film. “It was my first time being on a set of that scale… and I saw trans people in positions of leadership. I got to see you [Cox] walking in all of your grace and all of your power and I saw that I could be dream bigger than what I had dreamt for myself.”

Before saying goodbye to Mau, Cox praised the actress, telling the Emmy nom: “You’re making history and you’re making us all so very proud.”

While Mau did not take home the trophy in her category, Baby Reindeer did win big at last night’s show, with creator, Richard Gadd, winning as a writer and lead actor, and Jessica Gunning winning for supporting actress. The series also triumphed in the Limited or Anthology Series category.