“In a weird way, I first started feeling like this could be a good story during the whole ordeal,” Gad told Netflix.
“It was one of the most intense periods, when I was listening to these voicemails [that she’d sent]. “I would sleep at night with her words bouncing around my eyelids.”
Gad added: “I remember thinking: ‘Oh my God, if I were to talk about this on stage, I would be throwing words everywhere.’” Put your voicemail messages into a cacophony and fire them up. This is how the play was born.”
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The star writer also stars in the series alongside several other faces, some of whom you may recognize.
For more information about the characters in Baby Reindeer and where you've seen the cast before, read on.
Baby Reindeer cast: Who stars in the Netflix series?
The following main cast members appear in Baby Reindeer.
- Richard Gadd as Donnie
- Jessica Gunning as Martha
- Nava Mau as Terry
Here's what you need to know about the key players.
Richard Gadd plays Donnie
Who is Donnie? A “struggling comedian” who also works as a waiter. During a shift, he meets a “friendly” woman who “starts relentlessly stalking Donnie” after he shows her a “nice act.”
“Chasing on TV tends to be very exciting,” Gad explained. “It's mysterious. He's someone in a dark alley. He's a really interesting person, and he's very normal, but then he gets weird little by little.”
“But stalking is a mental illness. I really wanted to show the layers of stalking with a human quality that I've never seen on television before. It's a stalker story turned on its head. It takes a trope and turns it on its head.”
Where have you seen Richard Judd before? Gad created and wrote the one-man show Baby Reindeer. His on-screen roles include the comedy Code 404 with Stephen Graham and Danielle Mays and the BBC thriller Clique.
Jessica Gunning plays Martha
Who is Martha? Donny stalker. “Her obsession threatens to destroy both their lives and forces Donnie to confront deeply buried trauma.”
“If you tried to play the villain, I think you would ruin the amazing job that Richard did in writing,” Janning said when discussing her “sense of care and duty and responsibility to do justice to the story.”
“I think as an actress I'm not sure if you can focus on the damage that she's causing, because I don't think it's intentional on her part.”
No matter how much damage Martha causes, Gunning explains,
Where have you seen Jessica Gunning before? You may recognize her from Stephen Merchant's BBC comedy The Outlaws, Channel 4's comedy Back starring Robert Webb and David Mitchell, Law and Order: UK, Prime Suspect 1973 and Sky Atlantic's thriller Fortitude.
Nava Mau plays Terry
Who is Terry? Terry is an American therapist who has been living in London for years and meets Donnie on a dating site, but she is not impressed with the way Donnie treats her.
“When I was reading the script, it felt like the first time I was reading a character written by someone who actually knew and loved a trans woman,” said Mao, a trans woman. “And I felt it was an honor to be able to read the script because of Richard's vulnerability. There's a light that I think emanates from that kind of vulnerability, and so all the characters in the story are cast in that light. And I felt that in the first reading for Terry.”
Where have you seen Nava Mau before? She previously appeared in the HBO drama series Generation.
Tom Goodman-Hill plays Darren
Who is Darren? TV comedy writer who meets Donnie at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Where have you seen Tom Goodman Hill before? He has previously appeared in television series including Humans, Ideal, The Devil's Whore, Mr Selfridge and Inside No. 9. He is also the husband of actress Jessica Reign.
Additional cast includes:
The following supporting players also star in the show.
- Danny Kieran (Don't Forget the Driver, Critical) as Gino -One of the bar managers who works with Donnie.
- Michael Wildman (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) as Gregsy – Another manager of Donnie's at the bar where he works.
- Shalom Bron-Franklin (The Tourist, Line of Duty) as Kelly -Donnie's ex-girlfriend.
- Nina Sosanya (Screw, Good Omens) as Liz – Kelly's mother who allows Donnie to continue living with her after he breaks up with Kelly.
- Hugh Coles (Juice, Defending the Guilty) as Francis -One of Donnie's friends from drama school.
- Chloe Driver (Call the Midwife) as comedian.
Read more:
Baby Reindeer is available to stream now on Netflix. Signboard Access Netflix from £4.99 per month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass And Virgin Media Stream.
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