As fans continue to rave about the Netflix drama Baby Reindeer, one cast member in particular has captured viewers’ imaginations: Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha the Stalker.
Actress Gunning, 38, first appeared on popular television in 2008 in an episode of Doctor Who, but has only now become a global star in the Netflix drama. And as of 2021, she appeared in the BBC comedy-crime thriller The Outlaws alongside stars Christopher Walken and Stephen Merchant.
In Baby Reindeer, Gunning first appears on screen when she sheepishly enters the bar where Donny (Richard Gadd) works and appears dejected when he informs her that she can’t afford a cup of tea.
After Donny gives her a free beer as a gesture of kindness toward a stranger, viewers are drawn into her complex and strange life in which she creates fantasies about her origins and eventually becomes obsessed with Donny.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Martha’s character is that she is based on a real person who harassed Gadd for four years.
Gadd has described Martha in real life as a complex character who “wasn’t well and needed help,” meaning the actress who ultimately played her had some difficult lines to follow, but in her words, Gunning made a ” amazing job.”
Jessica Gunning plays Martha in Baby Reindeer, the fictional version of Richard Gadd’s real-life stalker
Gunning’s first memorable role was in the fourth series of Doctor Who opener, Partners in Crime.
Gunning as Orla in the 2012 series White Heat broadcast on BBC TWO
Jessica Gunning, 38, from Yorkshire, has been the breakout star of Netflix’s Baby Reindeer and has captivated audiences around the world.
Jessica Gunning was born in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. She previously revealed that she fell in love with acting at a young age, when she crashed school play rehearsals, directed by her mother.
He Mirror She reports that she was “astonished” by what she saw on stage, which prompted her to study acting.
After leaving school in Holmfirth, Gunning moved to Sidcup in Bexley, south-east London, where he studied at the Rose Bruford Drama School, an institution also attended by artists such as Stephen Graham and Gary Oldman.
When he left drama school, Gunning began his career on stage and landed a small role in Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre.
He has had small roles in several television shows, including Doctors, Doctor Who and Holby City.
Gunning began her theater career at the National Theatre, starring in productions including Much Ado About Nothing and Major Barbara.
He first appeared on television in an episode of the short-lived BBC Three variety show It’s Adam and Shelley in 2007.
But Gunning’s first memorable role was in the fourth series of Doctor Who, Partners in Crime, starring David Tennant as the tenth Doctor and Catherine Tate in her return as his companion Donna Noble.
Her character, Stacey Campbell, meets a gruesome end after the alien weight loss pill she’s been taking accidentally speeds her up and turns her entire body into a dozen cute alien babies made of fat – an ‘adipose’.
She appeared in Mutual Friends, starring Keeley Hawes and Alexander Armstrong, followed by a recurring role as Angela on Law & Order: UK in 2009.
Gunning played Annie the nanny in the BBC comedy series Life of Riley from 2009 to 2019.
She played Orla in the BBC television series White Heat in 2012, followed by a lead role as Melissa Young in the BBC drama What Remains.
She also starred in The Scandalous Lady W on BBC Two and played Shirley Allerdyce in the Sky Atlantic series Fortitude.
Gunning’s previous credits have seen her carve out a successful career as a comedy actress (pictured in Trollied on Sky).
Elsewhere Gunning starred alongside Imelda Staunton in the 2014 film Pride, about the LGBT community joining forces with miners in Wales.
She landed a role in the 2014 film Pride, a comedy/drama set in a Welsh mining town in which LGBT activists from London join the town’s miners to protest Margaret Thatcher’s government.
Gunning played police officer Kath Morgan in Prime Suspect (1973).
Since then, she has become an experienced comedic actress, taking on roles in the comedy Trollied, as well as the critically acclaimed comedy The Outlaws, written by Stephen Merchant, about a group of people who meet while being ordered to participate. in a communal revenge. scheme.
As Baby Reindeer continues to gain popularity, fans eager to see more of Gunning’s work have revealed their surprise at Gunning’s completely different appearance in Trollied.
Set in a fictional Valco supermarket, the show was about its employees, their nature, and the relationships they shared with each other.
On the show, Donna was a new security guard after former security officer Ian resigned over security fears.
Donna was dedicated to shopper safety in the store and was determined to stop shoplifters in their tracks.
She only starred in one series of the show as the seventh was the last to air on the channel.
Muzz Khan, her Trollied co-star and drama school classmate, told the Mirror of Gunning: “I hope people don’t think Jessica is like Martha because she’s not at all. She’s a lovely actress, warm, funny and proud of her northern roots. I am delighted for her and I really hope she catapults her career even further.
Furthermore, it appears that Gunning and Gadd share a passion for comedy, as the Mirror reports that he has posted clips of their routines on YouTube.
Gunning’s performances caught the attention of Gadd, who revealed that he had her in mind to play Baby Reindeer’s Martha from the beginning.
Jessica Gunning as Angela in Law & Order UK in 2009
Jessica Gunning as Kath Morgan in ITV’s Prime Suspect 1973 which came out in 2017
Jessica Gunning as Diane in the BBC comedy-crime thriller The Outlaws, which began in 2021
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly earlier this month, he told her: “I always thought that in every role you played, you brought this surprising nuance to it.” I always thought everything you were into was elevated.
And Gunning herself has also addressed the importance of making Martha a multifaceted character rather than a simple villain.
Talking with him Los Angeles Times, said, “I never saw it as a kind of bully-victim story.” You can never play someone with bad intentions. I don’t think it was intended to be scary, even if it was received that way.
Gunning added that he also gave an “interpretation” of the type of character Martha was, rather than an “impression” of her.
He explained that Gadd didn’t share much about Martha in real life when the show was in production, and also that he didn’t want to know too many details about her.
The actress has echoed this sentiment as she redoubles Richard Gadd’s pleas for viewers to stop searching for the real-life Martha.
After the heartbreaking show achieved global success, Richard, 34, was forced to beg social media sleuths to stop trying to uncover the characters’ true identities.
Jessica has since doubled down on her plea, saying it’s a “real shame” that fans are obsessing over who the real “Martha” is, after Richard went to great lengths to protect her identity.
She told Glamor: “I urge people not to do that (…) I think it’s a real, real shame, because it shows that they haven’t watched the show properly, that’s not the point in any way.” .
‘Netflix and Richard (Gadd) went to great lengths to try to make sure identities were kept private for some reason.
‘I think they should try watching the show again and really see what the point was. It definitely wasn’t that, I deliberately didn’t want to do an impersonation of someone, I wanted to do an interpretation of this character.’
