‘Baby Reindeer’ star Jessica Gunning reveals which real-life behavior might have been ‘a little bit Martha’ before she was cast

It’s hard to imagine anybody else in the role of Baby Reindeer‘s Martha. Actress Jessica Gunning does such an amazing job at capturing that intense and unnerving character while also keeping her somewhat sympathetic.

In fact, she’s so good as the character, she’s managed to scare people in real-life! It also helps that Gunning was already a huge fan of Richard Gadd’s work before being cast in the role. Speaking with Jimmy Fallon Gunning revealed that she had already seen one of his shows, Monkey See Monkey Do, which debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016 and had an eight-week run in Soho. It’s loosely based on the events of episode four and was very well received.

However, despite being a huge fan of his work, Gunning revealed that she never got the chance to see Gadd’s Baby Reindeer performance as it was sold out. That left her one choice, the only way she could experience the stage show was by pulling a classic Martha move.

I tried to get tickets for the “Baby Reindeer” stage show, but it was sold out. So I actually bought the playtext, which is a little bit Martha of me.

She also jokes that she “read it every day” which sounds like something the real-life Martha would probably do – she certainly has a habit of stalking celebrities.

Long before the production became a hit Netflix show, Gunning was preparing for this role, “you went method on this one!” Fallon quips. At this point she hadn’t even been cast in the role – but it seems like she was the best choice considering how much she’s a fan of Gadd’s work.