We’ve all come to know and love Jessica Gunning‘s haunting portrayal of Martha in Netflix’s series Baby Reindeer. But apparently, there was another high-profile star in mind to play the stalker — beloved A-lister Melissa McCarthy.
According to an insider speaking to Variety, creator Richard Gadd‘s agents were after someone with more notoriety to play the troubled character.
“A knowledgeable source says McCarthy met Gadd about the role but ultimately wasn’t interested,” the source claimed.
However, Gadd wasn’t as keen either, with insiders claiming that he “micromanaged casting and fired agents after both they and Netflix pushed aggressively for Melissa McCarthy to be cast as Martha”.
For the character to work, Gadd has said that he needed someone who could bring to life the complexities of mental illness and stalking.
“The show really hinged on an actor being able to deliver the nuances of Martha,” he told Variety.
“If somebody plays it as nothing but evil, nothing but weird, nothing but twisted, the show fails to take on the nuance that I think it needs to be an interesting piece of work.”
And throughout the press run for the captivating drama, Gadd has been quite outspoken about how he’d always backed Gunning for the role of Martha.
“I’d always seen Jess in shows and thought she was criminally underutilised — always playing the comic relief character. There was an essence of something there that I could tell was bursting to get out,” he said.
“I fought for her against the tide, but then one day she just came in and knocked everyone away.
“We saw amazing actresses for it, like the best actresses in Britain, for the role. There were even actresses in America who, I won’t say who any of them are.”
Well, who would’ve thought the metaphorical tide would be Melissa McCarthy?
Baby Reindeer is a drama which tells the story of a man named Donny Dunn who is being stalked by an older woman named Martha after he kindly offers her a cup of tea at a pub. Gadd — who also plays Donny — claimed it was based on events that happened in his own life.
While Baby Reindeer was released back in April, it’s remained in the news due to the lawsuit filed by Fiona Harvey — the woman who claims to be the inspiration behind Martha.
Harvey filed a $149 million lawsuit against Netflix in which she accused the streaming giant of defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of her right to publicity.
Netflix has publically stated that it intends to “defend the matter vigorously” and “stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story”.
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