Jessica Gunning's career stalls despite "Baby Reindeer" hit

"Baby Reindeer" became a hit this spring. The true story of actor and comedian Richard Gadd shook people worldwide. A woman harassed the man for about four years. He received over 41,000 emails from her, a mass of messages on social media, and 106 pages of letters. The number of hours on the voicemail reached 350. Millions of people watched the series and followed the developments when the real Martha, Fiona Harvey, appeared in the media and demanded massive compensation from Netflix.

Jessica Gunning jokingly commented in a recent interview on the lack of job offers following her sudden rise in popularity. The star played the role of the stalker Martha, acting alongside Richard Gadd. Despite the huge success, Gunning doesn’t receive as advantageous offers as her co-star.

Richard Gadd, the creator and star of "Baby Reindeer," gained star status thanks to Netflix. The streaming platform supposedly offered him almost a million pounds for an exclusive collaboration on new hits. Meanwhile, Gunning jokes that her job offers are limited to appearing on a show where stars swim with sharks and a role in the Australian production "Peter Pan."

In the podcast "Perfect Day With Jessica Knappett," Gunning shared her thoughts on the series' sudden success. Despite a long acting career, the success of "Baby Reindeer" surprised her. She emphasised that if this had happened a decade earlier, it could have overwhelmed her. However, she feels mainly proud of the number of people who watched the series.

On the other hand, for Richard Gadd, "Baby Reindeer" opened new career paths. He already has another project - this time for HBO. It’s a series titled "Lions," which will take place in Glasgow over nearly 40 years. Production is set to begin in 2025.

Let's recall that Fiona Harvey, who claims Martha’s character is based on her, demands £135 million in compensation from Netflix for alleged defamation. She claims that her life became a nightmare after the series premiere, and now she is afraid to leave her house. It’s worth noting that the creators of "Baby Reindeer" changed many details about the stalker's character so that no one could trace her identity.

In an interview with WP, the show's co-creator, Weronika Tofilska, mentioned this. - While creating the series, we were very cautious, as this woman is still alive. We would never want anyone to find and identify this person. We wanted to separate the series Martha from the real woman. We didn’t want to interfere with her life in any way. Richard was the only link to the real materials from the case. Based on them, he wrote the script. I know that what’s in the series is a very realistic representation of his communication with the stalker - she told us.

Netflix declares it will defend itself against the charges, emphasising that the series is based on Gadd’s true story. Will there be a trial? According to Deadline, the decision on whether proceedings will commence or the lawsuit will be dismissed will be made on 3 September 2023.