Weronika Tofilska (‘Baby Reindeer’ director): ‘I had this very strong feeling that it’s not a show about a stalker’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
Reading the script for the seven-part Netflix limited series hit “Baby Reindeer, Weronika (pronounced “Veronica” Tofilska felt that she instantly understood both what the harrowing yet darkly comic story was and – equally important – what it was not. “I had this very strong feeling that it’s not a show about a stalker,” she recalls. “The more I read, especially when I got to Episode 4, the more I realized it’s really a character study and really a kind of look inward where we peel away the layers of this character and see everyone through his eyes. It’s very much an internal journey. We’re inside Donny’s head for the duration of the show.” Fortunately, Tofilska’s take aligned with that of the show’s creator-producer-writer-star, Richard Gadd (who portrays Donny), and the London-based writer-director was hired for her highest-profile job to date: directing the first four episodes of “Reindeer.” It would lead to her first-ever Emmy nomination for limited series directing.
Tofilska spoke to Gold Derby as part of our “Meet the Emmy Nominees” TV directors panel. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Based on Gadd’s true story, “Baby Reindeer” tells the disturbing tale of Donn (Gadd), a bartender and aspiring comedy writer-performer and his warped relationship with a profoundly disturbed female stalker, Martha (Jessica Gunning) and its impact on him as he’s ultimately forced to face a long-buried trauma. It’s clearly a gift for any director to work with such talented performers as Gadd, Gunning, Nava Mau and Tom Goodman-Hill, all of whom also received Emmy bids. The characters were so beautifully written and defined and complex that a lot of actors wanted the roles,” Tofilska explains.
“We were auditioning a lot of actors who were willing to come back and read multiple times for the roles,” she says. And we were doing chemistry reads with Richard. We’re talking about people who were very established in the UK TV and film industry. And in the case of Jess Gunning, we just felt so lucky to find her.” And despite the fact that this was Gadd’s creation and he was calling the shots, Tofilska emphasizes their collaboration was a “very good” one. “It was actually quite a traditional sort of actor-director relationship in that way,” she adds.
The fourth “Baby Reindeer” installment for which Tofilska received her nomination was something of a series outlier and almost a standalone, representing a profound tonal shift from the other episodes as well as being longer at 45 minutes. It serves as a flashback that focuses on how Donny met his abuser, the manipulative predator Darrien (Goodman-Hill) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was reeled in by promises of opportunity, and winds up being drugged and sexually assaulted with his own quasi-complicity. “We show the whole journey of a character who loses his innocence,” she points out. “It felt like a little feature and was very exciting for me as a director. We establish the relationship with Darrien and how Donny gets sucked in, the episode getting progressively darker and more disturbing. The tone shifts from comedy to drama to borderline horror. But because we are still with Donny emotionally all the time, that’s going to glue it all together.”
At the same time, as Tofilska alluded, the beginning of the fourth episode has a feeling of fun and excitement that helps explain why Donny falls for Darrien’s act. “There’s a sort of tragic comic element to it all and we tried to capture that,” she maintains. “We really lean into the comedy so what comes after stands out.”
“Baby Reindeer” received 11 Emmy nominations in all. It streams on Netflix.
PREDICT the 2024 Emmy winners through September 15
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions