'Wayward's Mae Martin Talks Trans Role's "Hypermasculinity"

Although Mae Martin has established themself as a hilarious non-binary comedian in recent years, their latest role takes a darker look at finding a sense of belonging.

In Netflix ‘s Wayward , now available to stream, Martin told Deadline they wanted to use self-help cults of the ’70s like Synanon, and the troubled teen industry they sparked, as “a useful metaphor for all of the sort of oppressive systems that we are seduced by.”

In addition to creating and writing the series, Martin stars in Wayward as Alex Dempsey, a transgender police officer who moves to the peculiar community of Tall Pines in 2003 with his pregnant wife Laura ( Sarah Gadon ), where he attempts to help teens Leile ( Alyvia Alyn Lind ) and Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) escape a local academy with dark secrets.