Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd says sexual assault story ‘saved my life’

Baby reindeer Creator Richard Gadd said producing a series about his own experiences with sexual assault was a lifeline for him after dealing with his trauma in silence.

Gadd, 34, stars in the new Netflix series baby reindeer, which is based on his real-life experiences as a victim of stalking, sexual assault and abuse.

Baby reindeer follows struggling comedian Donny Dunn (Gadd), who is relentlessly harassed and stalked by Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) for four and a half years. In a subplot of the series, Dunn is groomed and raped by an older man named Darrian (Tom Goodman-Hill), who works in the comedy industry. Similar events happened to Gadd in real life.

In the penultimate episode of the seven-part series, Gadd’s character suffers an emotional breakdown in the middle of the stage and tells the audience what happened to him.

While Gadd did not have a spontaneous breakdown on stage in real life, he did write about sexual assault for his award-winning Edinburgh fringe show Monkey see monkey do.

Speak with The guard about the first time he performed Monkey see monkey doGadd said the show saved him after keeping his experiences secret for so long.

Speaking about the final technical rehearsal before the premiere, Gadd recalled: “I remember freaking out because everything was going so badly, and the producer said, ‘What do you want from this, man?’ And I turned to him with tears in my eyes and said, “I just want to get out alive.” I didn’t know it would be a lifeline for me.

“The way people took this show and me and accepted what happened to me: it saved my life. It’s crazy that it happened like that.”

“It clearly caught the spirit of the times,” he says. “I really believed in it, but it’s happening so quickly that I’m feeling a bit windswept.”

After watching Baby reindeerViewers were impressed by Gadd’s complex portrayal of abuse, sexual violence and the way male victims of harassment can be overlooked.

“It definitely struck a chord with the times,” he said of the show’s success. “I really believed in it, but it’s happening so quickly that I’m feeling a bit windswept.”

Gadd has praised the charity We Are Survivors for supporting him over the years.

“Sometimes I talk to male survivors, and I’m not a counselor or an expert, but the first piece of advice is: break the silence. Talk to someone, and if it’s too scary for you, just write it down and make it into something. Because I think the more you take it out, the smaller it gets,” he said.

“When you experience something like sexual abuse, a lot of the disempowerment can come from old ideas about what it means to be a man. When I shook off that thought and realized that speaking up and saying “I’m fighting” and letting go of the idea that masculinity was the only form of survival was a form of strength, it was very healing. “

If you are experiencing feelings of distress or struggling to cope, you can speak confidentially to the Samaritans on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected] or visit the Samaritan Visit the website for details of your nearest branch. If you are a US resident and you or someone you know needs mental health help right now, call 988, text or visit us 988lifeline.org to access the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline online chat. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can contact the following address: www.befrienders.org to find a hotline near you.

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn at 800-656-HOPE (4673).

Baby reindeer is now streaming on Netflix.