BABY Reindeer’s breakout star Jessica Gunning looks worlds away from stalker Martha Scott in a forgotten comedy role.
In 2018, Yorkshire actress Jessica played security guard Donna Calabrese in Sky’s hit series Trollied.
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And the role of the generous and protective Donna couldn’t be further from her stolen scene as the creepy, obsessive Martha in the Netflix hit.
Jessica starred in Trolley in seven episodes of the comedy’s seventh series, where she shared the screen with co-stars Jason Watkins and Chanel Cresswell.
Donna was the new security guard on the block after former guard Ian resigned out of fear for her safety.
Desperate to do her job well and keep the fictional Valco supermarket safe, Donna dedicated herself to keeping shoppers safe and stopping thieves.
She also decided to find the culprit who started a fire in Valco later in the series.
The seventh series of Trolled was the show’s last, so Jessica was unable to resume her character for another season.
Away from Trollied, however, she has an impressive array of screen credits.
She starred in the BBC comedy The Outlaws, two episodes of the police drama Strike, ITV’s Prime Suspect 1973 and the emotional LGBTQ film Pride.
But it was her role in Baby Reindeer that made her a household name.
The Netflix drama has been number one worldwide since it debuted two weeks ago.
It was written by and stars Richard Gadd, who based it on his real-life experience with a stalker.
He plays bartender Donny, who finds himself the target of obsessive loner Martha.
Martha pretends to be a lawyer, but in reality she lives in a dingy apartment, where she sends countless harassing emails and text messages to the man she has fallen in love with.
The success of the series led to fans trying to find the identity of the ‘real Martha’, despite Gadd and Gunning insisting they not do so online.
Fiona Harvey, a real-life woman credited with being the inspiration for the character, spoke to The Scottish Sun last week to promote the success of the streaming show.
The University of Aberdeen law graduate plans to sue the global streaming giant over the way she is allegedly portrayed on screen by actress Jessica.
Harvey said he will represent himself in any legal action against the US streamer, claiming: “I’m going to kick their ass.”
BABY REINDEER BY NUMBERS
The Netflix series became a huge success…
- 13.3 million Number of viewers who watched the show during the first week
- 7 Number of episodes in the series
- 41,071 Number of emails that Richard claims were sent by the real-life Martha
- 64 Percentage increase in viewers that the program gained in the second week, compared to the first
- 97 The show’s percentage score on industry bible Rotten Tomatoes
- 30 Number of countries in which the series topped the Netflix charts
Harvey, from Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, revealed she wants her day in court after Baby Reindeer fans tracked her down and sent her a torrent of abusive messages.
She told The Scottish Sun: “I have a complaint against Netflix as this is being advertised as part of a true story.
“There’s a fat actress who should be me.
“I am a highly competent lawyer. I would have to do it alone. I’m very good.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
