IT’S dark and twisted plot revolves around two flawed, downtrodden characters that can’t separate themselves from each other for wildly different reasons.
But away from Baby Reindeer’s bleak scenes on the streets of London its key cast members are far less dowdy and scrub up rather well.
The British phenomenon is making waves Stateside and the cast were in Los Angeles yesterday for a photocall at the Directors Guild of America.
Writer and show star Richard Gadd took centre stage in a grey suit and white shirt, worlds apart from his down on his luck barman/comedian character Donny Dunn.
Jessica Gunning, who plays unhinged stalker Martha Scott, looked far more radiant than her troublesome alter-ego in a green jumpsuit.
While Nava Mau, who plays Donny’s trans girlfriend Teri, was stylish in a full length red leather coat with matching boots and bag.
The gritty real-life drama was inspired by the ordeal suffered by Scots creator and leading man Gadd, 34.
In the series, the then-struggling comic hands Martha a free cup of tea while working behind a Camden bar, unwittingly setting off a nightmare chain of events.
The series claims Martha – who is allegedly based on Scots woman Fiona Harvey – subsequently bombarded him with more than 41,000 emails.
She also sent him hundreds of tweets and hours of voicemails over an alleged four-year campaign of terror.
Harvey will now break her silence in a Piers Morgan Uncensored interview on YouTube at 8pm tomorrow.
Morgan said: “Reindeer breaks cover and gives me her first TV interview about the smash hit Netflix show.
“Fiona Harvey wants to have her say & ‘set the record straight.’
“Is she a psycho stalker? Find out tomorrow on Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
Gunning admitted it was tough playing her stalker role and at times struggled to separate fact and fiction.
“Somebody said the other day, ‘Your body doesn’t know what’s pretend and what isn’t, and it’s so hard to get to that place.’
Baby Reindeer by numbers
The Netflix series has become quite the breakout smash hit...
- 7 Number of episodes in the series
- 30 Number of countries the series has topped the Netflix chart in
- 64 Percentage increase in viewers the show earned in its second week, compared to its first
- 97 The show’s percentage score on industry bible Rotten Tomatoes
- 41,071 Amount of emails Richard claims he was sent by the real life Martha
- 13.3 million Number of viewers who tuned into the show during its first week
“I used to always think when actors said that, I had a bit of an eye-rolly moment like, ‘Ugh, actors’,” she explained to IndieWire.
“But actually, it’s so true,” she said. “You do really feel like you’ve been through something quite traumatic because your body doesn’t know otherwise.”
Jessica has also spoken out in defence of Martha, whose identity has never been confirmed by Gadd, saying she believed she was as much of a victim of he was.
“The thing that first sprung off the page was that it didn’t feel like a villain vs victim story,” Jessica told Stylist.
“Richard is very honest, in his portrayal of Donny, that he liked the attention and he flirted back with her.”
The real life Fiona Harvey
Fiona, 58, is from Fyvie, Aberdeenshire and says she met Gadd years ago when he was a bartender at The Hawley Arms in London’s Camden.
She admits to befriending him and claims she gifted him a pair of “tartan M&S pants” to congratulate him on one of his comedy shows.
But she denies she stalked him.
“I am very attractive. He’s not Brad Pitt,” she told The Scottish Sun.
“I have a claim against Netflix as this is being billed as part of a true story.
“There’s a fat actress that’s supposed to be me.
“I’m a highly competent lawyer. I’d have to do it myself. I’m very good.
“I have a photographic memory and can memorise huge files. I was top in my school at everything.”
As for how she discovered the show, she says she first became aware of it when Gadd took it to Edinburgh Fringe Festival as a one-man show.
She said: “He’s come up with this character called Martha and he has put me right in the frame.
“This is a programme for the 20-somethings. The people with no lives, no jobs, whatever. I don’t want to be a celebrity.”
