Jessica Gunning has revealed how proud she is of Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd for inspiring a wave of previously silent sex assault victims to seek help – adding the pair have a ‘really special bond’.
The actress, 38, who played stalker Martha in the Netflix smash hit series, also said she was surprised how it immediately took off as she expected it to only be a ‘slow burner’.
The pair, along with their co-star Nava Mau, who played Richard’s trans girlfriend Teri in the series, attended a screening of the show in New York City on Wednesday.
The show tells a fictionalised version of the life story of its creator Richard as he faced a horrific stalking ordeal while trying to make it in comedy, and was sexually assaulted by a male TV writer along the way.
Richard plays the lead character with his name changed to Donny Dunn, while Jessica plays Martha Scott, a portrayal of Gadd’s real-life stalker Fiona Harvey.
Jessica Gunning has revealed how proud she is of Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd for inspiring a wave of previously silent sex assault victims to seek help – adding the pair have a ‘really special bond’
The actress, 38, who played stalker Martha in the Netflix smash hit series, also said she was surprised how it immediately took off as she expected it to only be a ‘slow burner’ (pictured with their co-star Nava Mau)
Speaking of the pride she feels for Gadd, Jessica said a charity he supports for male victims of sex assault and rape has seen a 200% spike in emails since the series – with over half saying they made contact because of the story.
In the show, Donny is groomed and sexually assaulted by the writer who he turns to as his mentor after being given drugs.
Jessica said: ‘I think I know him in a way that I’ve not really known anyone before. We’ve kind of gone through a bit of a crazy time together.
‘We’ve known each other for a while now and when you work so closely with somebody we’ve got a real special bond. I really care about him and obviously we’re doing some press stuff together which has been really nice to talk about the show together.
‘I’m so, so proud of him. The effect that especially episode four (where he depicts being raped by the writer) has had on people watching.
‘But I was also so – not to sound too wanky – proud of him because I know him really well now obviously.
‘We filmed it nearly two years ago, so just seeing everything that he did, all the scenes that I wasn’t obviously part of like episode four for example, just seeing how amazing and brave he was doing all that.
‘So I found that really emotional seeing it in its kind of finished state.
Richard plays the lead character with his name changed to Donny Dunn, while Jessica plays his stalker Martha Scott
In the show, Donny is groomed and sexually assaulted by the writer who he turns to as his mentor after being given drugs
The cast took part in a screening and conversations in New York City on Wednesday
Jessica said a charity he supports for male victims of sex assault and rape has seen a 200% spike in emails since the series
‘I think all of the crew and Weronika (Tofilska) who was directing that episode, everyone was really mindful that that would be a tough one to film and watch. I think Richard is amazing and he’s really well prepared.
‘He obviously did it as a stage play years ago as well, so that was kind of like a bit of a dress rehearsal maybe.
‘But the impact has been incredible. He works with a charity called ‘We Are Survivors’, and they’ve had something like a 200% increase in emails since the show’s been out, and 55% of those people have said that Baby Reindeer was the reason why they reached out. ‘I think that’s really special and important.’
‘I think he was really honest and brave in how he told the story. He’s having people talk to him all the time about how they’ve opened up to family members for the first time.
‘People are out there feeling lonely and like it’s only happened to them, and then they see someone else who’s gone through something similar, it’s really special.’
Speaking on the Reign podcast, Jessica, who also stars as PCSO Diane in Stephen Merchant’s BBC comedy drama The Outlaws, said of Baby Reindeer’s huge worldwide success: ‘I don’t think any of us really expected it.
‘When I watched it on my own before it came out just to do a bit of prep for interviews and things, and I definitely thought then ‘this is going to be good and I think people are going to watch this’.
‘But I kind of thought it might be a bit like an indie slow burner and then suddenly everyone is talking about it, which is amazing. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind.
‘When I read the scripts I honestly thought it was one of the best things I’d ever read. My biggest thing was just I hope it kind of translates to the screen. And it really did.
‘I think Richard’s script is just incredible.’
It comes after Jessica spoke out for the first time about how she realised she was ‘a big old gay’ and came out 19 months ago
Jessica blew fans away with her controversial role of Martha the stalker in Netflix series Baby Reindeer
It comes after Jessica spoke out for the first time about how she realised she was ‘a big old gay’ and came out 19 months ago.
Jessica admitted she didn’t think she could be gay, even though there were many signs through out her life, like when she was kissing actress Cate Blanchett on stage every night during a National Theatre production called When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other.
Jessica, who has never been romantically linked to anyone, now describes coming out as ‘liberating’.
Speaking on the Reign podcast, Jessica explained: ‘I came out in November 2022. And that was a mega, mega thing for me because I for so long…I am surrounded by gays, like all my friends are gay, so it wasn’t that I was repressing anything, it was just that I didn’t think that I could be.
‘I still can’t articulate it in the best way.
Jessica continued: ‘But I realised I was a big, old gay. I was like, ‘That’s what it’s been, that’s what it is’. And that was like a massive moment where everything kind of clicked and I made sense of myself then.
‘Because for so long I’d thought, ‘I know I’m a bigger woman’, and I thought that maybe it was to do with my size that I felt a bit like almost alien or like I was tagging along.
‘But as soon as I realised, I was like ‘No, it’s tha”, and that was like the most liberating thing.’
