Who Is the Real Martha from 'Baby Reindeer'? Richard Gadd Explains Why He Changed Details for Netflix Series
The new Netflix limited series Baby Reindeer is the biggest new phenomenon on the streaming service and fans are trying to figure out the real story.
Baby Reindeer follows struggling comedian Donny Dunn’s (Richard Gadd) warped relationship with his female stalker (Jessica Gunning) and the impact it has on him as he is ultimately forced to face a deeply buried trauma.
Richard created the show based on his true story of being stalked, though he has already asked fans to not investigate the real story.
In a recent interview, Richard explained the character details that were changed from his real life and why he decided to make Martha unrecognizable from the real person.
Keep reading to find out more…
When asked what the real Martha would think of the show, Richard told GQ, “I honestly couldn’t speak as to whether she would watch it. Her reactions to things varied so much that I almost couldn’t predict how she’d react to anything. She was quite an idiosyncratic person. We’ve gone to such great lengths to disguise her to the point that I don’t think she would recognize herself. What’s been borrowed is an emotional truth, not a fact-by-fact profile of someone.”
Richard also said that the story is “pretty truthful.”
“Any time it veered too much into embellishment I would always want to pull it back. It’s extremely emotionally truthful. Of course, this is a medium where structure is so important, you need to change things to protect people… but I like to think, artistically, that it never moved too far from the truth,” he added.
So, what happened to Martha?
Richard told The Times that the stalker situation was “resolved” in real life, but Martha didn’t go to jail as he “didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell in prison.”
Baby Reindeer is streaming now on Netflix.