The Cast of Baby Reindeer Talks About Real People Who Inspired the Show

Baby reindeer Fans are obsessed with identifying the real people who inspired the hit Netflix series, but the show’s creators have discouraged making one-to-one comparisons.

Baby reindeer Stars Richard Gadd and is based on his autobiographical one-man show of the same name. It describes his previous experiences with a female stalker and a male sexual predator. While Gadd appreciates the series’ positive response, he’s not as happy with the fans’ detective work.

Gadd urged fans not to doxx potential real-life inspirations, but they’ve done just that, and the woman who was allegedly the inspiration for obsessive stalker Martha is threatening legal action.

This is what the woman said, who did not reveal her name Daily Mail that the show amounts to “bullying an older woman on television to gain fame and fortune.”

“Richard Gadd has ‘main character syndrome,'” she added. “He always believes he is at the center of things. I don’t write shows about him or promote them in the media, do I? If he had wanted me to remain truly anonymous, he could have done that. Gadd should leave me alone.”

Here’s what Gadd and his castmates said about the real people behind their characters:

Richard Gadd (Donny Dunn)

Gadd said it was “not the point of our show” to speculate about who the characters might be based on. This speculation has led to people like theater director Sean Foley being harassed and threatened by fans who incorrectly concluded that he was the inspiration for Darrien, the character who sexually abuses Donny in the series.

“People I love, have worked with and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly caught up in speculation,” Gadd wrote on his Instagram Story on April 22. “Please do not speculate about who any of the real people might be. That’s not the point of our show.”

“The police have been informed and are investigating all defamatory, abusive and threatening posts against me,” Foley added about X.

Gadd also reminded fans that while the show is based on his actual experiences, it is not an exact retelling.

“It’s all 100 percent true emotionally, if that makes sense,” Gadd said diversity. “Everything is taken from events that happened to me and real people I met. But of course, for legal and artistic reasons, the exact truth cannot be reproduced. I mean, there are certain protections, you can’t just copy someone else’s life and name and show it on TV. And of course we were very aware that some of the characters in it are vulnerable people and you don’t want to make their lives any more difficult. So you have to change things to protect yourself and other people.”

Gadd also talked about the actual man who inspired Darrien.

“It’s a true story based on my time in my early 20s when I went through something pretty crazy,” he said The guard. “There’s a flashback where we actually go back in time where Donny goes to the Edinburgh Fringe and meets someone in the industry who helps them with their careers but then mistreats Donny, and that obviously comes from my experiences from that real life.”

Jessica Gunning (Martha)

Gunning told this Los Angeles Times that she never spoke to Gadd about the woman who inspired her character and that it was voluntary.

“I don’t embody her when we do this show,” she explained. “I’m working on my interpretation of this amazing character that he wrote and I felt like it would unsettle her too much because that’s not who she is. Everything is told from Donny’s perspective and is based on a true story. I didn’t really find it helpful to know too much about the person just because Martha is a character, so I interpret her myself.”

Gunning added that she didn’t approach the role from the perspective of a “crazy version of a stalker” because Martha didn’t see herself that way.

“I find [Martha] I felt like she was a little magical with him,” she added. “From Martha’s point of view, it’s kind of an unconventional, unrequited love story, so that’s how I approached it.”

Nava Mau (Teri)

Although Mau, a trans woman, never knew the woman Gadd Teri is based on, she could feel the authenticity of the character.

“When I read [the script]”I could see that whoever inspired that character, Richard really loved her,” she explained in a question-and-answer session with Digital spy. “It felt like it was my first time reading a character written by someone who actually knew and loved a trans woman.”

She added: “I think I knew it was based on real life and it seemed really important to show people that trans women exist in real life and in relationships with real people.” I could see Richard’s heart in it from the writing and hope that people will see it too.”