Baby Reindeer Martha star reveals ‘secret trauma’ after hit Netflix series – as Fiona Harvey speaks out
BABY Reindeer’s standout star Jessica Gunning has admitted dealing with the role of stalker Martha was ‘quite traumatic’.
The Netflix smash-hit series – based on the real-life experience of Richard Gadd, the creator and star of the show – has become a major global talking point.
In Baby Reindeer, Jessica plays Martha – a fictionalised version of Gadd’s stalker who begins to attach herself to him after he offers her a free cup of tea when she was down.
Soon, Martha has infiltrated all aspects of his life, making him uncomfortable at the pub he works in, bombarding him with emails and eventually turning sinister when he doesn’t reciprocate.
According to Jessica, putting herself through what ‘Martha’ did left its mark on her well after the show ended.
“Somebody said the other day, ‘Your body doesn’t know what’s pretend and what isn’t, and it’s so hard to get to that place.’
“I used to always think when actors said that, I had a bit of an eye-rolly moment like, ‘Ugh, actors’,” she explained to IndieWire.
“But actually, it’s so true,” she said. “You do really feel like you’ve been through something quite traumatic because your body doesn’t know otherwise.”
Jessica has also spoken out in defence of Martha, whose identity has never been confirmed by Richard, saying she believed she was as much of a victim of he was.
“The thing that first sprung off the page was that it didn’t feel like a villain vs victim story,” Jessica told Stylist.
“Richard is very honest, in his portrayal of Donny, that he liked the attention and he flirted back with her.”
“She makes errors and behaves badly in certain moments but she’s also a very complicated character that’s been through a lot in her past as well and so I tried to do that side of the character justice,” she continued.
“It wasn’t black or white, there’s lots of areas of grey, like in life.”
Richard changed the names and certain elements of the story to protect identities of those involved, and begged fans not to look up the real-life inspiration behind Martha or others as that “wasn’t the point of the show”.
Despite this, armchair sleuths soon started tracking her down.
Eventually, a woman named Fiona Harvey came forward and claimed that she was the person Martha was based on, posting dozens of online messages rebuking the allegations made on the show.
She’s since threatened to sue Netflix, and claims she’s had death threats made against her.
Baby Reindeer by numbers
The Netflix series has become quite the breakout smash hit...
- 7 Number of episodes in the series
- 30 Number of countries the series has topped the Netflix chart in
- 64 Percentage increase in viewers the show earned in its second week, compared to its first
- 97 The show’s percentage score on industry bible Rotten Tomatoes
- 41,071 Amount of emails Richard claims he was sent by the real life Martha
- 13.3 million Number of viewers who tuned into the show during its first week
She told the Scottish Sun: “I have a claim against Netflix as this is being billed as part of a true story.
“I’m a highly competent lawyer. I’d have to do it myself. I’m very good.
“I have a photographic memory and can memorise huge files. I was top in my school at everything.”
“He’s come up with this character called Martha and he has put me right in the frame,” she added.
“This is a programme for the 20-somethings. The people with no lives, no jobs, whatever. I don’t want to be a celebrity.”
Baby Reindeer is available to watch now on Netflix.