The real Martha from Baby Reindeer is being sought out by viewers — and the actor who plays the stalker in the hit Netflix limited series said it needs to stop.
Released on Netflix on April 11, Baby Reindeer has become a worldwide viewing sensation. The seven-episode series was No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV show chart for the week of April 15-21 with 13.3 million views, which equates to 52.8 million viewing hours.
Based on comedian Richard Gadd’s 2019 one-man U.K. stage play, Baby Reindeer tells the story of how he was relentlessly stalked by a woman he dubbed “Martha,” receiving more than 41,000 emails from her over three years and more than 350 hours of voice mails, among other troubling actions.
Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha in the Baby Reindeer limited series, was dismayed to learn in a recent interview with Glamour that people were attempting to track down Gadd’s real-life stalker after watching the series.
“I didn’t know that was happening. I would urge people not to be doing that. I think if that is happening, I think it’s a real, real shame because it shows that they haven’t watched the show properly,” Gunning told Glamour. “That’s not the point of it in any way. Netflix and Richard [Gadd] went to extreme lengths to try and make sure that the identities were kept private for a reason.”
As such, Gunning suggests anyone who is attempting to contact the real Martha needs to give the series a second look to see the woman as a real person.
“I think they should try and watch the show again, and really see what the point of it was – it definitely wasn’t that,” Gunning told Glamour. “I deliberately didn’t want to do an impersonation of somebody, I wanted to do an interpretation of this character.”
Gunning Says She Wanted To Do A ‘Truthful And Caring Depiction’ Of Martha
Richard Gadd’s dealings with Martha isn’t the only trauma his character endures in Baby Reindeer. Going by the name Donny Dunn in the series, Gadd also reveals the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a TV writer he calls “Darrien,” played by Tom Goodman-Hill.
As the first actor to realize the role of Martha — Gadd said that she was represented by a stool that he would move around the stage in his one-man play — Gunning told Glamour that she felt an enormous responsibility to the performer to get the role right.
“As an actor working with him, I felt a huge sense of responsibility to do the story justice, but also to make sure that he was OK,” Gunning explained to Glamour. “I think he’s worked on himself so much. He’s already worked through a lot of stuff in his life and through his art, he’s hopefully found some sort of catharsis through it. So, I never felt like he wasn’t in control.”
As for Martha, Gunning said she wanted to ensure that she was giving an honest portrayal of the real-life character.
“I just wanted to do the story justice and play Martha in a way that felt the most truthful and caring depiction of her as far as I could,” Gunning told Glamour. “It’s so fragile, that dynamic and chemistry, to get right. It’s really, really important.”
Baby Reindeer is streaming on Netflix.
