Dreams: Last News

Mary Malone discusses her groundbreaking role as Aqua in Missing You, bringing much-needed trans representation to the Harlan Coben Netflix Universe and challenging perceptions along the way.

WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID REISS
STYLING BY MIA MAXWELL AND SAMANTHA LANGE
HAIR AND MAKEUP BY JACKIE SAUNDERCOCK

As Aqua in Missing You, a “witchy-woo yoga teacher” caught up in the bonkers disappearance of her detective BFF’s fiancée, Mary Malone has delivered much-needed trans rep to the Harlan Coben Netflix Universe.

The five-part drama, packed with more mind-boggling Coben-esque twists and turns, has followed in the record-breaking footsteps of its Michelle Keegan-led predecessor Fool Me Once as it sits comfortably at number-one on the British streamer (it even dethroned Squid Game). With the global reach of Coben’s mysteries and the lack of trans representation across genres, Malone hopes to “empower” members of her community and “help make some change”.

“I’m aware that a lot of people are going to see this. But I’m really hopeful that people who maybe haven’t met a trans person before—or at least didn’t know they had—will get to meet Aqua and realise she’s just another girl,” Malone tells GAY TIMES. “I hope that challenges people who feel a certain way about people like me.”

As Missing You continues to dominate both Netflix and the cultural zeitgeist, we sat down with Mary Malone to discuss her groundbreaking portrayal of Aqua, how the series offers a more progressive take on her character than the book, and her dream of starring in the trans edition of Fleabag. (Warning: minor spoilers ahead for Missing You.)

Missing You is currently number-one on Netflix. What a way to ring in the New Year?

Yeah, number one! Not bad for the 2nd of January to wake up to. I went to bed on the 31st of December like, ‘Does my life change tomorrow? What’s in store for me?’ I thought maybe there’s a world where no one’s even going to notice me, or nothing’s going to happen.

Michelle Keegan