Jessica Gunning, star of the smash hit Netflix show Baby Reindeer, revealed on a podcast that she came out to family and friends in November 2022.
The English actress sat down with podcaster and journalist Josh Smith of ‘Reign with Josh Smith’ this week to talk all things Baby Reindeer, her career and her journey of self-discovery.
“I realized I was a big, old gay,” Jessica confided during the interview, revealing her sexuality to the public for the first time.
“It wasn’t that I was repressing anything”, she shared about finally accepting herself, “it was just that I didn’t think I could be… it’s been amazing and very freeing, and very grounding.”
Baby Reindeer took the world by storm when it dropped on Netflix in April this year and has since racked up over 20 million views.
© Dave BenettThe series follows comedian Donny Dunn as he is obsessively stalked by a woman who he first meets when serving her in the bar he works at.
Based on the real-life experience of creator Richard Gadd and his harrowing ordeal of being stalking during his twenties, the show has opened up important conversations around sexual abuse in television industry and the trauma of male victims.
© John LamparskiJessica received acclaim for playing the stalker, Martha, whose real life counterpart sent over 41,000 emails and 350 hours of voicemails to Gadd and allegedly terrorized his family and friends for years.
The 38-year old actress broke down when connecting the show to her real-life experiences and the relief she felt after disclosing to her family: “There’s an emotional thing in Baby Reindeer where Donny talks about sleeping for the first time at his parents’ house, and I’d told my family in Christmas that year…I slept for ten hours that night.”
Reflecting on coming out to her loved ones, she revealed, “it feels like a celebration of who you are and I think we’re coming into a time where we won’t ever need to really come out…when you do it is so exposing but it’s also really lovely because you’re going ‘this is my soul’.”
According to the actress, there were signs from the universe pointing to her sexuality before she came out in 2022.
© BBC“I mean in hindsight I used to go downstairs and watch ‘The L Word’, so probably that would’ve been a bit of a giveaway”, she quipped.
Beyond Baby Reindeer, Jessica has also appeared in the heart-warming 2014 film Pride and currently stars in comedy thriller series The Outlaws.
Speaking about Pride, she reflected, “to be able to see yourself reflected is rare for some people, and when you do it’s so exciting and new and it just makes you feel [you’re] not alone…it’s such an important film to be a part of.”Jessic
