Richard Gadd talked about the challenges that came along while playing the role of Donny

Richard Gadd, who played Donny in the Netflix mini-series Baby Reindeer, recently opened up about how tough it’s been to handle the huge attention the show has brought him. With the series earning six BAFTA TV Award nominations, Gadd—who also created the show—admitted that the success came with a lot of stress, saying the pressure sometimes felt “unbearable.”

In an interview, he explained, “There have been many really hard moments. The show blew up to a crazy level, and sometimes it felt like I was caught in a storm of pressure I couldn’t handle.” He added that he hasn’t even had a chance to look back and process everything because he needs some real downtime to regain his balance. “Right now, I just feel really overwhelmed and squeezed from all sides,” he said.

Gadd also shared how sudden the fame was. The show dropped on a Sunday, and by Thursday, fans were already showing up at his door asking for autographs. Coming from a background as a small-time arthouse comedian—where he performed to tiny audiences of about five people each night—this was a massive change. “It’s still strange for me. Even simple things like going to the supermarket now come with a million extra thoughts and worries,” he joked.

Adding to the drama, right after the show aired, Fiona Harvey, who was portrayed as the stalker in the story, sued Netflix for defamation. She claimed the series was “the biggest lie in television history,” challenging the truthfulness of the story.