“Have you ever just wanted to zip someone open and climb inside them?”
To Jessica Gunning, that line from Richard Gadd’s script for Baby Reindeer was one of the most romantic things she’d ever read. But to the friend who was helping her read through the script for her audition, it sounded completely nuts. “I really was surprised and I really had to check myself because I never in a million years read it as crazy at all,” Gunning tells Vanity Fair. “I thought it was a really lovely thing to say to somebody. I just thought, Isn’t it sweet that she wants to snuggle away inside him?”
The British actress nabbed the role of Martha, a woman who becomes obsessed with a bartender/aspiring comedian (played by Gadd), in part because of her empathetic view of the character. A lesser actor could have played Martha as a straight villain, but Gunning never saw her that way. “I think you have to try and find the person in there and the logic and honesty to what she does, and I really saw it really clearly as soon as I read the script,” she says.
Gadd’s script for the breakout Netflix series—an adaption of his one-person play—is inspired by his own life, following him as he meets a woman in the bar where he works, pays attention to her, and eventually becomes the target of her intense stalking. The dark story also looks back at Gadd being sexually abused by his mentor, exploring mental health issues and trauma with nuance and care. We also see this delicate touch in the characterization of Martha, who is at times charming, funny, caring, and lonely—but can quickly swing into dark and scary places.
For Gunning, who has been working steadily for the past 17 years—appearing in British series like Doctor Who and The Outlaws, and the 2014 BAFTA-nominated film Pride—playing Martha has been the role of a lifetime. She spoke with Little Gold Men (read or listen below) the day after she learned she had earned her first Emmy nomination (Baby Reindeer nabbed 11 nominations total), reminiscing about landing the role after multiple auditions, what sort of (strange) offers she’s getting now, and how she’s avoided being pigeonholed during her 17-year acting career.
Vanity Fair: You had to audition four or five times for this part. What was that process like for you?
Jessica Gunning: Usually if I get a script, I think, “Well, if I’m right for this, I’m right for it.” And I go in and I can usually put it to bed after I come out and think, “Well, what will be will be if, if I’m right.” But for Baby Reindeer, I just felt like I really understood what Richard wanted from the part. I had like a few little indicators early on. When I first had the first audition with Richard and [director] Weronika [Tofilska], I got a really great vibe from the room. In hindsight, I’ve learned that they were kind of always championing me. I’m about four or five years younger than they needed Martha to be, and I’d heard that was one of the concerns in terms of the chemistry reads. I was speaking to a friend of mine, who’s actually now won an Oscar—Nadia Stacey, she did the makeup design for Poor Things—she was like, “I would just put a wig on, I’d go and tape yourself.” So we did that in a very rushed way. Richard, in hindsight, I think, found it incredibly funny that I would go to those extents. I just kept thinking that if this part gets into the hands of somebody that sees her as bad or a villain, then it would be a real shame because I think she’s so much more than that.