Melissa McCarthy Almost Cast in Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd Accused of 'Casting Couch' Antics
Netflix aggressively pushed for Richard Gadd to cast Melissa McCarthy as Martha for ‘BABY REINDEER’
McCarthy met Gadd about the role but ultimately wasn’t interested.
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- DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) June 24, 2024
The series, which is poised to become Netflix’s most-streamed show of all time, is also facing questions about whether Gadd engaged in casting couch antics. Two months before Harvey’s suit, trans actress Reece Lyons posted on X that an unnamed male writer of a Netflix show pursued her romantically while simultaneously dangling a role he wrote for a trans actress. As was the case with Harvey, Gadd was quickly identified on social media and in subsequent news reports as the unnamed writer. Neither Netflix nor Gadd has addressed the matter or responded to Variety’s request for comment. The role eventually went to actress Nava Mau.
Reports indicate that “Baby Reindeer” producer Clerkenwell Films investigated and cleared Gadd of wrongdoing after being notified of Lyons’ posts, and insisted that Gadd didn’t have final say in casting decisions. But those familiar with the production say Gadd micromanaged casting and fired his CAA agents after they and Netflix pushed aggressively for Melissa McCarthy to be cast as Martha. (A knowledgeable source says McCarthy met Gadd about the role but ultimately wasn’t interested.)
Netflix is also receiving criticism by people who say they’ve been harmed by the streamer in a reckless and craven bid for eyeballs.
Entire subreddits are devoted to unmasking Darrien O’Connor, the exploitative TV writer who mentors Gadd’s Donny, only to drug and rape his acolyte. Fans began harassing “Peep Show” writer Sam Bain, who they believed to be the model for O’Connor. “Recently I received messages on social media asking if I was ‘Darrien from Baby Reindeer.’ Having not seen the show, they seemed like innocent questions; only later did I realize they were asking if I was a rapist, an abhorrent thought,” Bain tells Variety. “While I understand that physically I may resemble Tom Goodman-Hill, who plays Darrien, and that there are references to my television series ‘Peep Show’ in ‘Baby Reindeer,’ since I have never met Richard Gadd I can categorically and emphatically say I am not the person Darrien is based on. Any suggestion otherwise is simply an internet-fueled lie.”
Bain is just one person who has been hit by the “true story” shrapnel.
“They are effectively whistling up the online mob and setting them on whatever unfortunate person they have designated as the bad guy,” says Williams’ attorney Alexander Rufus-Isaacs. “And the online mob is vicious and judgmental and has no mercy.”
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