Jessica Gunning, the actress who portrays Martha Scott in the Netflix series ‘Baby Reindeer,’ has decried viewers’ efforts to uncover the real-world individuals behind her character and the fictional Darrien. She asserted that the show’s objective was not to expose the identities of Gadd’s stalkers and abusers, but rather to delve into the distressing experiences he endured.
‘Baby Reindeer,’ a seven-part Netflix series starring Richard Gadd, is adapted from his autobiographical one-man show of the same name. Gadd recounted his ordeal of being stalked and sexually assaulted, with Jessica Gunning playing the fictional representation of his stalker. Upon the show’s release, viewers embarked on a digital scavenger hunt to unearth the real-life counterparts of the characters.
Gunning expressed her disappointment with viewers’ obsession with identifying the real Martha and Darrien. She maintained that this pursuit deviated from the show’s intended message, which centered around Gadd’s experiences and not exposing the identities of the perpetrators. She emphasized that Gadd had taken great care to safeguard the stalker’s anonymity.
Gunning urged viewers to return to the show and discern its true message. She stressed the importance of understanding Gadd’s harrowing ordeal and not focusing on the identities of those involved. In Gadd’s real-life experience, his stalker bombarded him with tens of thousands of emails, voicemails, social media messages, and letters over three years. Fans’ attempts to uncover the real-life Martha and Darrien also extended to Darrien, a successful director, writer, and comedian in the show, who exploited and sexually abused Gadd. The character is portrayed by Tom Goodman-Hill in the series, and fans on various social media platforms became convinced they had identified the ‘real’ Darrien based on his striking resemblance to the actor.
Gadd himself intervened, issuing an urgent plea to fans to cease their online detective work and acknowledge that it undermined the show’s purpose. He highlighted that individuals close to him within the industry had been unfairly targeted by speculation and called for an end to the online investigation.
