The Mon Petit Renne series, unveiled on Netflix on April 11, has been a great success. But is this one inspired by a true story? Télé Star tells you more.
On April 11, Netflix launched “My Little Reindeer,” a series based on the true story of Richard Gadd, a man harassed by a woman who sent 41,000 emails and 350 hours of voicemails.
Richard Gadd, who plays himself in the series, shares his experience with harassment, including key moments in his career and how he handled the situation without wanting to burden his attacker.
“My Little Reindeer” tackles difficult themes like bullying and depression, while emphasizing the importance of not attacking the real people behind the story, despite public backlash.
It’s a series that is unanimously appreciated. On April 11, the American platform Netflix unveiled a new fiction entitled My Little Reindeer. It tells the story of Donny whose life will take a new turn following an encounter. The latter is a bartender and comedian and, while he is doing his first job, he will come across Martha. A customer of the pub where he works, she goes to order him a cup of tea before becoming obsessed with Donny. For several years, he will experience real hell since Martha will be present in his daily life, in every possible way. The latter sent him 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voicemails, 744 messages on X, 46 messages on Messenger and 106 pages of letters. She also followed him to all the shows and visited his home on several occasions.
This series was a great success upon its release, particularly since it tells the true story of Richard Gadd. The director plays his own role in the series, that of Donny. In the columns of Hello Magazinethe main person concerned made some moving confessions. “It has now been four years since I was harassed by a woman of which, only the ability to circumvent the law exceeded the ability to harass me”, he said. Richard Gadd then remembers that his stalker was omnipresent. “She had obtained, I don’t know how, my telephone number and I was at a key point in my career returning from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where I had won the Edinburgh Comedy Prize for my show Monkey See Monkey Do”, he continued.
Richard Gadd: a harassed man who wants to tell his story
With this series, Richard Gadd highlights the very complicated daily life of a man who is the victim of harassment. He had to adapt the script for television and confides that he did not want to overwhelm his attacker. “It would be unfair to say that he was a horrible person and that I was a victim. That was not true,” he declared before adding that he also had his share of responsibility. “I made a lot of bad choices and I made the situation worse. I wasn’t perfect”, specifies the director. This is a seven-episode miniseries that deals with difficult topics. “Harassment, depression and certain very graphic scenes of sexual assault could offend the sensitivity of spectators”warned the platform.
Richard Gadd has revealed his personal story. The series upset viewers so much that some generated a wave of hatred against the real people portrayed. Among them, her stalker and her rapist. Many managed to find the identity of the real protagonists and send them hate messages. It was on his Instagram account that the director recalled the importance of not attacking them. “People I love, have worked with and admire – including Sean Foley – are being unfairly singled out. Please do not speculate on the identity of the real people,” he wrote before continuing: “That is in no way the point of our series.” Will his message be listened to?
My Little Reindeer: a series that deals with difficult subjects
For Richard Gadd, the important thing was to tell his story, while conveying important messages. He is not the first and unfortunately not the last to be a victim of harassment. Thus, the director adapted the scenario to recall the fact that it is a “mental illness. This is what I wanted to show”, he said. If he was a victim of this woman, Richard Gadd claims to have “saw someone for whom I felt sorry”. The script was adapted for television but the director assures the story is “emotionally 100% true” and it accurately relates what he suffered.
