Lucas Hedges and Tommy Dorfman attracted attention after they were photographed enjoying a friendly day together in New York City. The two actors appeared relaxed and affectionate, offering a glimpse of a friendship that developed away from movie premieres, television sets and carefully arranged publicity events.
Contemporary coverage described Hedges and Dorfman as close friends. Although photographs of celebrities holding hands can quickly generate speculation, nothing about a public gesture alone establishes a romantic relationship. Reports from the period repeatedly characterized the pairβs outings as friendly and noted that they had also spent time together on other occasions. (Just Jared)
Lucas Hedges and Tommy Dorfman during a separate friendly New York outing
Source: Just Jared Jr.
Lucas Hedgesβ rise from acclaimed newcomer to Oscar nominee
Hedges had already established himself as one of the most respected actors of his generation. His breakthrough performance came in Kenneth Lonerganβs Manchester by the Sea, in which he played Patrick Chandler, a teenager confronting grief and an uncertain future after the death of his father.
The role earned Hedges an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He competed in a category that also included Mahershala Ali, Jeff Bridges, Dev Patel and Michael Shannon, making the achievement especially significant for an actor who was still at the beginning of his adult career. (Oscars)
Lucas Hedges during the early period of his breakthrough career
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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The Wikimedia photograph is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0, subject to the attribution and reuse conditions on its file page. (Wikimedia Commons)
Hedges followed his Oscar-nominated performance with striking work in Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Ben Is Back, Honey Boy, Waves and French Exit. Rather than pursuing conventional leading-man roles, he frequently chose emotionally vulnerable characters dealing with grief, fractured families or questions of identity.
That quality was central to Boy Erased. Hedges portrayed Jared Eamons, the son of a Baptist pastor who is pressured into attending a conversion-therapy program after being outed to his parents. The film, adapted from Garrard Conleyβs memoir, placed Hedges opposite Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe and required him to communicate fear, isolation and resistance without turning the characterβs experience into spectacle. (Focus Features)
A quieter but continuing screen career
Hedges has remained selective about his appearances. One of his major recent projects was Sorry, Baby, the acclaimed feature debut written and directed by Eva Victor.
The dark comedy-drama follows a college professor attempting to rebuild her life after a traumatic experience. Hedges plays Gavin, a gentle figure whose presence contributes to the filmβs exploration of intimacy, recovery and the difficulty of returning to ordinary life. The movie premiered at Sundance before receiving a theatrical release through A24. (festivalplayer.sundance.org)
Naomi Ackie, Eva Victor and Lucas Hedges promoting Sorry, Baby
Source: People
People photographed Hedges alongside Victor and Naomi Ackie at the filmβs New York screening, marking one of his more recent public appearances. (People.com)
Tommy Dorfmanβs public and creative transformation
Dorfman became widely recognized through Netflixβs 13 Reasons Why, playing Ryan Shaver during the dramaβs early seasons. The show brought sudden fame, something Dorfman later admitted she initially found overwhelming and frightening.
In a 2021 interview with TIME, Dorfman publicly reintroduced herself as a transgender woman and stated that her pronouns are she/her. She described the moment not as becoming a different person, but as living more openly and becoming more fully herself. (Time)
Dorfman subsequently expanded beyond the television role that made her famous. She appeared in Lena Dunhamβs Sharp Stick, made her Broadway debut in the Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler production of Romeo + Juliet, and directed the feature adaptation of Mason Deaverβs I Wish You All the Best. (People.com)
Her directorial work signaled an important evolution. Rather than remaining defined by one Netflix character, Dorfman began developing projects that allowed her to shape stories from behind the camera.
From public attention to a deeply personal memoir
Dorfmanβs memoir, Maybe This Will Save Me, explored her childhood, addiction, sobriety, early fame, relationships and gender journey. She explained that writing the book allowed her to reconsider painful memories and release some of the shame she had carried from earlier periods of her life. (People.com)
Tommy Dorfman photographed for her memoirβs publication
Source: Vogue
The memoir represented a more reflective stage of Dorfmanβs career. Her story was no longer being interpreted only through paparazzi photographs, red-carpet appearances or an earlier television performance. She was telling it herself, in her own structure and language. (Vogue)
At the time of the original friendship photographs, Dorfman was legally married to Peter Zurkuhlen. Their relationship was later redefined as a friendship, and the divorce process followed. Dorfman subsequently married Elise Williams, although she filed for divorce from Williams in 2025. (Time)
Those later developments should not be used to retroactively transform a friendly public outing into proof of a romance. Instead, the images remain an affectionate snapshot of two performers who appeared comfortable expressing closeness without explaining it to strangers.
Years later, Hedges continues choosing intimate, character-driven films, while Dorfman has become an actress, director and author with increasing control over her own narrative. Their New York friendship moment now feels less like a celebrity mystery and more like a reminder that warmth between friends does not always require a dramatic explanation.