Richard Gadd reveals how he felt reliving his traumatic experiences filming Baby Reindeer

In one episode of Baby Reindeer viewers watch as Donny remembers being tormented by an awful assault, something that actor Richard Gadd had to relieve when filming for the Netflix show. Since its release, he’s spoken out about the effects of having to remember the traumatic experiences.

In an interview with Variety, he was asked how it felt to “relive some of those traumatic experiences during filming?” Richard responded: “It was tough, I can’t deny. I mean, who in their right mind wants to revisit the worst thing that ever happened to them? The worst period of their life? Of course, it affects you and leaves a bit of an imprint on you. But at the same time, I do sometimes feel that revisiting pain and re-experiencing things can lead to a better understanding of them.”

Whilst he currently feels “overjoyed” with the response Baby Reindeer has received, Richard Gadd explained that he might understand what happened to him better in time by revisiting the experience. He explained: “I think it’s to come still. At the moment, I just feel kind of windswept and overjoyed and overwhelmed with the response. I’m not feeling anything other than, “Oh my god, is this really happening?” So we’ll have to do another interview in a year’s time.”

As for how it feels to share such a “personal and honest” situation with a global audience Richard describes it as a “daunting one” but one that he hopes to be an “examination of the ramifications of trauma.”

He said: “It feels quite daunting, but people have been really nice and it’s affected people. As much as it is an examination of stalking and abuse and love and loneliness, I really wanted it to be an examination of the ramifications of trauma. And I think that’s quite subtle in the show, but a lot of people are really getting that aspect of it. They see Donny and they’re appreciating someone’s self-destructive tendencies in the wake of trauma. And I think people are finding a great comfort in that, honestly.”

Baby Reindeer is available on Netflix now. For more like this and all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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Featured image via Netflix.