Mack Bayda recently broke into the film and TV industry, portraying a transgender man in "A Man Called Otto." The young actor described the experience as profoundly healing to his inner child. His gender journey not only helped him step into his true identity with confidence but also helped others begin theirs.
Although Mack Bayda has been incredibly open about his Female To Male (FTM) transition since it began, little is known about the YouTube vlogger's background. He began vlogging nearly a decade ago, documenting all the details of his journey from questioning his gender to undergoing gender-affirming surgeries.
In more recent years, he joined the film and TV industry, first appearing as a Fan in an empty bar in a 2019 NF music video. The following year, Bayda played Neighbor in the sci-fi horror "The Alpha Test," Jessie in "The Best You Got," Mack in "Ouija Craft," and Camper in the 2021 musical "A Week Away."
Mack Bayda poses at the GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton on March 30, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California | Source: Getty Images
Still, it wasn't until he scored the role of Malcolm in "A Man Called Otto," that he truly began fulfilling his purpose for joining the entertainment industry: providing well-rounded transgender media representation. Having starred in a high-profile production, it appears he's off to a good start.
Mack Bayda Is a Transgender Male. He Started Transitioning in 2015
In August 2019, Bayda posted a two-picture collage, with the left-hand image depicting how he looked in 2015 and the right-hand photo showing how much he'd changed. In the 2015 photo, he had just cut his hair short, marking the onset of gender-euphoric experiences, as he wrote:
"The day I got it all chopped off was one of the best days of my life. I started recognizing myself in the mirror. When I would secretly go out in public in all men’s clothes, I started to pass as male. It was beyond freeing and relieving."
It was also when he began questioning his gender, and cutting his hair was "the most drastic change" he'd ever made to his appearance at the time. Then, he decided to launch a YouTube channel and tell the world about what he would do next to affirm his identity.
Bayda started hormone replacement therapy in 2017 and posted his progress in March 2019 and the following years. In the past year, though, he hasn't posted any videos on his YouTube. At the time of writing, his latest was dated November 14, 2021, a week after he underwent a hysterectomy.
Until then, Bayda had posted over 150 videos, educating his subscribers on transitioning from one gender to another. Some of his videos discussed how he wished to affirm his identity further; others offered advice on various topics relative to other people undergoing gender-affirming processes.
In one of his 2018 videos where he offered such advice, one subscriber commented, "Awesome videos you helped me to realise that I am transgender as a lot of what you seaid. Matched up with how I felt. (sic)." Others felt seen as they related to Bayda's struggles as a transgender man.
Mack Bayda Wants to Represent the Trans Community through His Involvement in Movies
As Bayda celebrated the milestone, he noted a few main reasons why playing Malcolm was "particularly fulfilling" for him. Among them was hardly ever seeing transgender representation in the media growing up; there were primarily stereotypical characters whose gender identity became central to who they were, something actress Nicola Coughlan has also called out.
However, Malcom's storyline was different. Bayda hoped it, along with "Otto's uncompromising compassion" toward Malcolm — as depicted in the film — would open many minds and hearts and help transgender people feel less alone. Bayda also added that his inner child experienced being grounded in his identity from a young age through Malcolm, which he found quite "healing."
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