Martha (Jessica Gunning) in a scene from "Baby Reindeer."
Netflix’s Baby Reindeer and the character of Martha have the internet buzzing. What else has the actor who plays Richard Gadd’s stalker appeared in?
Baby Reindeer, of course, chronicles comedian Gadd’s harrowing real-life encounter with a stalker he identifies as “Martha” in the series, a troubled woman who makes his life living hell after he shows kindness to her while working in a bar.
Gadd — who first told his story the 2019 one-man stage play in the UK before creating the full-fledged streaming series for Netflix — fictionalizes his traumatic encounters with Martha. According to Glamour, Martha, among other frightening actions, sent Gadd more than 41,000 emails and left him 350 hours of voicemails.
In the series, Gadd plays himself, essentially — but is named Donny Dunn — while Martha is played by Jessica Gunning.
Martha was a difficult role for Gadd since in the 2019 stage version of Baby Reindeer, the character was represented by a stool that the actor moved around on stage. For the Netflix series, Gadd told Variety that he found the actor with the right range and charismatic presence to play the difficult role of Martha when he cast Gunning.
“What I needed to see was the essence of the person, the kind of energy, and no one did it like Jess. She’s phenomenal,” Gadd told Variety. “I needed to see someone who was vulnerable one moment, angry the next, volatile but so desperate and sympathetic.”
Gunning, who was born in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England, has largely been featured in British productions since her screen career kicked off in 2007. Thanks to the burgeoning world of streaming, however, American audiences have had plenty of opportunities to see Gunning’s work, particularly in the Prime Video comedy series The Outlaws in 2021-22.
In The Outlaws, Gunning plays Diane Pemberly, a self-important Bristol Police Community Support Officer who supervises a variety of different offenders serving out community service sentences in London. Among those the PSCO supervises are an American con artist named Frank, played by Christopher Walken, and a doofus lawyer Greg, played by series co-creator (and frequent Ricky Gervais collaborator) Stephen Merchant.
What Else Has Gunning Starred In?
Among Jessica Gunning’s early credits was a guest turn in the legendary U.K. series Doctor Who in 2008. In 2009 Gunning nabbed a role in the British Version of NBC's hit crime series Law & Order: UK, which aired on such outlets as ITV Independent Television in the UK and BBC America. Gunning appeared in the recurring role of Angela in 29 episodes from 2009-2014.
Several other guest roles in various British series followed for Gunning over the next four years until she nabbed her breakthrough role in the BBC miniseries White Heat in 2012, where she starred opposite the likes of Claire Foy and Sam Claflin.
In 2014, Gunning starred in a supporting role in the acclaimed British historical comedy-drama Pride, which won the Queer Palm Award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Gunning was part of a massive ensemble cast that included Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Dominic West, George Mackay and Andrew Scott.
After Pride, Gunning once again appeared in several guest roles on British television until landing a key role as a police constable, WPC Kath Morgan, in the hit PBS Masterpiece drama Prime Suspect: Tennison — aka Prime Suspect: 1973 — in 2017.
While Gunning has appeared in several dramatic series— Baby Reindeer included— she has also found time for comedy apart from The Outlaws. In the British sitcom Back, Gunning played a barmaid, Jan, in all 12 episodes of the series, which ran from 2017-2021.
Baby Reindeer premiered on Netflix on April 11 and quickly cracked Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV shows chart less than a week into release. A limited series that consists of seven episodes, Baby Reindeer placed No. 5 on the chart for the week of April 8-14 with 2.6 million views, which equals 10.4 million viewing hours.
