Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning has responded to the ongoing saga surrounding the hit Netflix drama.
The British actor stars in Baby Reindeer as Martha, who was inspired by creator Richard Gadd’s real-life experiences of having a stalker.
Since the show became a global hit, a woman claiming to have been the inspiration for the Martha character has repeatedly spoken out against it, and even filed a lawsuit against Netflix for “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence” and “violations of [her] right to privacy”.
During a new interview with the podcast Perfect Day, Jessica was asked for her feelings on the thorny subject.
“We try not to look into too much in all honestly,” she said, insisting that her co-star Richard “has every right to tell his side of this story in an artistic, emotionally truthful way”.
“As he said before, he’s not doing a documentary. Identities were changed for a reason, and that was never the point for it to become,” she said.
“But I get it, I get the fascination, and I get the kind of wanting to discover real identities for people. But it gives me the same feeling as when they talk about acting and they’re like,’ you should only play something if you’ve experienced it’, like people with different sexualities. It is a bit of a minefield to discuss in this day and age in terms of what we can do as storytellers, and what we shouldn’t.”
Jessica concluded: “I think that it’s a story we’re telling, and I think we’re allowed to do that, and I think Richard’s been really brave in how he did that.
“I just kind of keep going back to that and trying to keep going back to the show; what was told in that was really hard for him to do and it was really brave doing.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jessica admitted she still finds it “crazy” how much her profile has blown up thanks to the success of Baby Reindeer.
“I think because I’ve been acting for 17 years, I’m still myself in it all. I think if this has happened maybe 10 years ago, I don’t know if I would have known how to really handle much of it, but I feel okay, and really proud and just chuffed that so many people have watched it,” she explained.
Each episode of Baby Reindeer opens with a message stating the show is “a true story”, with the final episode ending after the Martha character pleads guilty to stalking in court.
Last week, Netflix conceded that the real woman who stalked Richard was never convicted of stalking him in real life, and instead only received a court order due to her interactions with the comedian and writer.
In response to the lawsuit when it was first filed, Netflix initially vowed to “defend this matter vigorously”, insisting they also stood by the Baby Reindeer creator’s “right to tell his story”.
When the show’s popularity first began to grow, Jessica joined her co-stars in discouraging viewers from trying to seek out the identities of real people who inspired characters within the show.
This included Martha as well as Darrien, a fictitious TV writer who drugs and sexually assaults the protagonist in one harrowing episode of Baby Reindeer.
Listen to Jessica Gunning’s interview on Perfect Day with Jessica Knappett now.
