THEY WERE ONCE 'WAYWARD' TOO

Mae Martin explores the underbelly of the 'troubled teen industry' in new series

- MARY MCNAMARA

MAE MARTIN based elements of "Wayward" on the experience of a friend who was sent to a reform camp as a teen.

CHRISTINA HOUSE Los Angeles Times

There is something of the fae folk about Mae Martin, at least onscreen — the big blue eyes, the short blond fluff of hair, the nonbinary grace.

Over the last decade, Martin has darted through the forest of popular culture like a modern-day Peter Pan, if Peter had been less afraid of growing up and more concerned with what that actually means.

In their quest to figure it out, Martin has created their own, more inclusive Neverland, hunting metaphoric pirates via stand-up (her 2023 Netflix special “Sap” literally opens in the forest), a podcast (“Handsome” with Tig Notaro and Fortune Feimster), books (the 2019 YA “Can Everyone Please Calm Down?: A Guide to 21st Century Sexuality”) and television series (including and especially the marvelous 2020 semi-autobiographical “Feel Good”).

Earlier this year, Martin, who is from Toronto and spent a dozen years in London before moving to L.A., pulled another hyphenate out of their hat by releasing an indie rock album. And now they are returning into the forest (literally) to save Wendy and the Lost Boys (almost literally) in the new Netflix drama “Wayward,” now streaming.