How Baby Reindeer's Jessica Gunning freaked out fan on the street
She plays stalker Martha in the smash-hit Netflix series.
Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning has explained how she managed to freak out a fan on the street.
Now streaming globally on Netflix - and undoubtedly the runaway success of 2024 - Gunning portrays a relentless stalker named Martha in the series, who takes to Richard Gadd's barman Donny after he offers her a free drink out of pity. What happens over the course of its seven episodes is both blackly comic and harrowing as Martha's obsession with Donny plays out.
Speaking to The Mirror about an encounter with a Baby Reindeer viewer, Gunning recalled: "I came out of my house the other week and a lady was just there on the street and went, 'Ahhh!' But it's because she'd just finished episode seven, walked out of her door and then I was there.
"So I understand why maybe that may have been a bit freaky," she caveated.
Meanwhile, the actress also recognisable from Law & Order: UK and The Outlaws weighed in on the phenomenal reaction to the programme, which originated as a one-man show on the comedy circuit before being adapted for the screen.
"I don't think any of us really expected it," said Gunning, who envisioned Baby Reindeer as a slow-burn independent hit.
"I watched it on my own before it came out just to do a bit of prep for interviews, and I definitely thought then, 'This is going to be good, people are going to watch this'. I thought it might be a bit like an indie slow-burner but then everyone was talking about it, which was amazing.
"It's been a whirlwind," she added.
Baby Reindeer is streaming on Netflix.