Baby Reindeer star says joining You season 5 cast was "phenomenal gear shift"

The year-round initiative provides industry support, networking opportunities and more for a cohort of must-watch creatives at a breakthrough moment in their careers.

Asked about what it means to be selected as part of the scheme for this year, Mau told RadioTimes.com exclusively: "I think that, as much as I know it doesn’t do me any good, I am somebody who often struggles with self-doubt, and so it can be helpful to have a space where I get to sort of be in conversation with that doubt and meet it with hope and possibility.

"Part of the programme, I think, is I get to talk to other people in the industry who face the same challenges that I do, and maybe have ideas for how to overcome them. It feels like a really great space for growth."

Mau is known for her roles in HBO's Generation, but was catapulted to international fame upon the release of Baby Reindeer.

Playing the role of Donny Dunn's (Gadd) girlfriend Teri, Mau starred alongside Gadd and Jessica Gunning in the overnight Netflix hit series.

Baby Reindeer went on to become widely talked-about, and even landed Mau a monumental Emmy nomination, making her the first Latina trans woman to ever be nominated in the Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category at the Emmys.

Now, though, fans of Mau's can anticipate another Netflix series role from her, as she's set to join the cast of You season 5 as Detective Marquez.

Teasing what's to come in the new season of the Penn Badgley-fronted thriller, Mau said: "Well, when it comes to Netflix series, I’m three for three on British female directors. And so, I am very happy that I got to check off another British director, even though it’s an American series."

She went on: "I got to work with Madeline Brewer. It was just phenomenal to completely shift gears and create a new character, completely different type of series – I’d never done something that was so plot-driven before. It was amazing, yeah."

Speaking to how her role preparation differed between Baby Reindeer and You, Mau also said: "I think with Terri, there was this immediate recognition of who she was and who Donny was, and so the work was sort of building out the differences in me and Terri. The highs and the lows, the way that she crashes emotionally and has to build herself back up. It was more of a journey.

"I think with You, I got to... it was like I got to build a single sort of location that the character lives in. The story kind of intersects with her.

"I mean, I’ve never played a detective before, I had to sort of figure out how to create more walls and create more of a mask like a uniform, you know. I think with Terri, it was about stripping it all away."

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Having been selected as part of the BAFTA Breakthrough scheme, Mau said of her hopes for the future: "I’m grateful any time I get to meet filmmakers, actors, people who work in any part of the process of creating film and television, so that is just in and of itself going to be very special.

"I hope that it means that I will feel like there’s an abudance of roles that are possible for me and an abundance of collaborations that are possible. And that this is just the beginning."

You season 5 will be coming to Netflix soon. Baby Reindeer is available to stream now on Netflix – sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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