When nominations for the 2024 Emmys were announced, Richard Gadd was intentionally riding the tube in London. “I’ve learned in life, don’t put too much emotional weight behind [things], because if you really want something and it doesn’t go your way, it can be quite devastating, so I didn’t want to reserve a period of time where I would just be sitting, so I just went about my day,” says the creator and star of the streaming phenomenon Baby Reindeer.
Gadd’s fear of tempting fate proved superfluous when the seven-part drama — which currently stands as Netflix’s 10th most watched English-language series with more than 85 million views since its release on April 11 — garnered 11 nods, including best limited or anthology series, and best writing and best actor for Gadd. The fanfare is somewhat prophetic as Gadd’s character, Donny, based on his true-life experiences, spends the greater part of the show chasing fame as a writer and comedian. His desire to be seen makes him a ripe target for Martha’s (Jessica Gunning) obsession, which is at the center of the thriller. Life on the other side has been an adjustment for Gadd.
“My whole life flipped on its head because I used to go to production companies begging for them to take on an idea that I had and develop it with me, and all of a sudden, they were coming to me, begging to do this. It’s a very strange shift in my career,” Gadd admits as he talks to THR about standing firm in his convictions when making his breakout series.
Was there any point you second-guessed choosing to portray yourself in this series?
I would never cast myself just because I wanted to do it as an actor. I would always ask myself if I thought I could bring something to it that was interesting, that elevated the piece. And I thought, because I’ve been through so much of the things in Baby Reindeer, and because it came from a place of truth, that there was something interesting about casting myself as Donny and putting myself in the show. And I think it was. It generated a lot of conversation. A lot of people would watch the show and be like, “Oh, my God, it’s the person that it actually happened to,” and I think that blew people’s minds a bit. I think it was the right artistic choice, but it was hard. Nobody wants to revisit a really challenging period in their life.
It’s remarkable to have this much control over your first major project and have it be so successful. Did you feel prepared for this moment?
It was always what I wanted, from a very young age, to write and be in my own show. So when it came, I’d like to think I went about it with confidence. It didn’t faze me having a lot of power suddenly on my project. That was good for me because I had to have that kind of control to go through this process. What was challenging about Baby Reindeer were the scenes, the intensity of it all, the re-enactments, the stressful days, the shooting days, the all-consuming process of it and the difficulty of revisiting that period of my life. Every production is a very difficult thing. It’s a hard thing to manage, but I felt very ready for it when it came. I’d been writing television for years — I’d come close before on projects but never quite got them over the line — and it just had to be the way I wanted it and I had to go about that with conviction. In terms of the fame stuff, that’s been quite difficult because I’m not sure what people expected. I always thought Baby Reindeer would do well. I think some people thought it would disappear without a trace, other people thought it would do all right, other people thought it would be an artistic success. I think nobody thought that it would be the stratospheric, Emmy-nominated success that it became. And it was overnight. I remember it came out on a Thursday, 8 a.m. U.K. time, and I didn’t watch it, but I put it on my algorithm, so it played all the way through, and I realized very quickly that I really didn’t need to do that.
Your next project, Lions, has already been announced. Do you feel added pressure because of the success of Baby Reindeer?
No pressure I feel from the outside world comes even close to the kind of pressure I put on myself. I pushed myself so hard with Baby Reindeer. I let it consume me and my life for the best part of four years, and that’s how I get the best of myself. I really push myself to the furthest degree, so any expectation that comes from the public and what they expect of me is nothing compared to grilling myself over a laptop for 15-odd hours a day.
Are you looking forward to the prospect of putting some distance between yourself and this period of your life with the next project?
Yeah, but it’s been wonderful. I’m very grateful and aware that it’s quite rare to garner everyone’s attention at once as the show seemed to do. It’s just been so intense. Something can be wonderful, but you also need a slight break from it. I think that’s maybe where I’m at.
This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
