Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning has opened up about her sexuality in an inspiring interview with podcast Reign with Josh Smith.
The actor said: “I came out actually in November 2022 and that was a mega, mega thing for me. I'm surrounded by gays, all my friends are gay and so it wasn’t that I was repressing anything. It
was just that I didn't think I could be, and I still can't articulate it in the best way. But yeah, I realised I was a big old gay, and I was like, ‘that's what it's been. That's what it is.’"
Jessica shared that she had often felt “alien” throughout her life, wondering if her body type was a contributing factor. “For so long, I'd thought, and I'm a bigger woman, and I thought maybe it was to do with my size, that I felt a little bit almost alien, or I was tagging along. But as soon as I realised, I was like, ‘no, it's that.’ That was the most liberating thing.”
"It's been a little secret, I guess I've been keeping from myself even. And not in a kind of hating way. I never felt I was repressing anything in a bad way or that any reaction would be bad. I just kind of was like, I didn't think I could be."
The actor, who starred in moving gay activism film Pride back in 2014, added: “I mean, in hindsight, I used to go downstairs and watch The L Word. So probably that would've been a bit of a giveaway… I should have even known when I did Pride, I would cry all the time. All the time. I found it so emotional. I should have really known then. And then I did a play with Cate Blanchett where I got to kiss her every night on stage again, should have known then. All these signs from the universe! It took me 36 years, but I did it.”
Jessica has seen breakout success in 2024 for her extraordinary portrayal of a stalker in Baby Reindeer, which has been the year's runaway hit for Netflix. She shared how coming out has been a “grounding” experience for her.
Says one showrunner, “Viewers understand on a certain level that these things are fictionalized, but…if you wander too far off the garden path, you are potentially ruining someone’s life.”
“It's been amazing and very freeing and very grounding. I feel really peaceful actually… Naively, I always used to think it would be just weirdly a sexual thing like that if you're telling people it's like you are saying, ‘I like boobs,’ and it's not that in any way. You are going, ‘this is who I am.’ And it's actually really emotional.
"I think we're coming into a time where we won't ever need to really come out again. But when you do, it is so exposing. But it's also really lovely going, ‘this is my soul.’ And not to sound too cheesy, but you are going, ‘this is who I am.’ And you're getting to have those amazing chats with all your loved ones. It's really special. And also loads of my friends have shared that sometimes it wasn't that easy. That's really emotional too. But yeah, it's been lovely and freeing and really emotional, but also great. Everyone's been amazing and so supportive.”
Listen to Jessica Gunning's full interview on Reign with Josh Smith here.
