Richard Gadd is totally mad about suiting

Richard Gadd still hasn't quite come to terms with all of this. "I grew up in a pokey Scottish town," the actor tells Gentleman's Journal over the phone from his hotel in Los Angeles, where he attended the SAG Awards for the first time. He was nominated for the Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie award for his role in Baby Reindeer, the hard-hitting autobiographical drama that he both stars in and wrote. "We had one shop, there was no pub, nothing like that. It was just a place with a corner shop to go to. So to be here, amongst all this, is quite surreal."

Prior to the SAG Awards, where he narrowly missed out on taking the award home to Colin Farrell for his own role in The Penguin, Gadd attended the Indie Spirit Awards, where he actually won for the lead performance in a new scripted series. "It's been quite a successful award season, and to be celebrated by Hollywood is very nice," Gadd tells me, explaining that sitting on a table next to Firth this weekend was a highlight. "It's quite hard though. Sometimes it can feel kind of overwhelming and daunting when everything you do makes headlines and then when you go to these events and people you admired now know you."

Gadd always had faith in Baby Reindeer. "You know, I never want to pretend that I didn't believe in it because I really did," the 35-year-old actor shares. "And I thought that it would provoke a sort of conversation and then I thought that it might be artistically celebrated like a kind of cult artistic sort of gem." But when awards and big ceremonies were initially mentioned over a year ago, he shied away at first. "When my publicist first watched the screeners that was when the Emmys were mentioned. She phoned me and said, 'you know, we should be looking to put this into Emmy consideration' and I couldn't kind of understand."

One thing about his newfound life in the public eye that Gadd enjoys is a obligatory and self-imposed requirement to get dressed up. For both the SAG and the Indie Spirit Awards, the actor wore Dior: a plaid wool double-breasted suit to the former; a dark wool peak lapel suit to the former. "I think prior to Baby Reindeer coming out, I had quite a casual dress sense," he says. "I wasn't, let's say, known for my fashion particularly, but I really enjoy it all now. I like the suits. I've come to really love suits."

Growing up Gadd says that white T-shirts and simple jeans were the order of everyday, and his uniform became a bit of a running joke among his peers. "I think when you're in the public eye a lot more it makes sense to kind of just try to sort of figure out your own style a little bit. It's taken me around 35 years to get here, but I think it's working. My entry point into fashion has been the past sort of year or so. I think it all kind of started with doing some of the photo shoots I have done and stuff like that, just before the show came out, maybe back in January 2024."

Since Baby Reindeer hit screens and became a global smash, Gadd has been working with his stylist Chris Brown, who also caters to the wardrobes of Leo Woodall, David Beckham and Louis Partridge. "I just really like suits now and if I wasn't filming I'd be running out and buying suits," he says. "I've got more of a fashionable taste now. I really like what Adrien Brody is doing with his tailoring. He always looks sharp."

While the current press awards season press run has wrapped in the US, Gadd is hopeful that this year, notably will bring more opportunities to wear some well-made tailoring. "I don't want to tempt fate, but I'm hoping there might be a few UK events, because Baby Reindeer hasn't had its UK - you know, the BAFTAs and all that - run yet. So fingers crossed, there'll be some opportunities there to wear some nice suiting."

But Gadd isn't just about a sharply-cut suit and instead is thinking more about having fun with his outfits. Tradition is big for him, as was seen when he wore a Loewe kilt to the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards. But it isn't always so on the nose, and he's a little more subtle with his nods towards his Scottish background. Case in point: a the Golden Globes he opted for a custom Dior brooch that was shaped like a thistle, the national emblem of Scotland. Meanwhile, of his SAG Awards look, Brown told us "Richard and I instantly fell in love with the look, which captures the essence of perfect tailoring in a classic suit. Inspired by the sharp lines and precise cuts of 1960s mod style, the design subtly incorporates rich check patterns as a nod to Richard’s Scottish heritage, blending tradition with contemporary elegance to create something truly timeless."

Going forward, Gadd promises that we're going to see him some more playful outfits. "I don't think the corners have quite been tested," he admits, saying there's places he'd like to go with his style. "That said, I don't ever see myself on a red carpet in something really attention grabbing and out there. I think it will always feel quite traditional and sharp. And I presume, based on our conversation, quite suited."

Coming up, Gadd would also like to play some roles that allow for a little dress up. The outfits he wore in Baby Reindeer were, naturally, close to home and didn't veer far from his own wardrobe. A current project, which he's currently shooting, is HBO and the BBC's Half Man, alongside Jamie Bell. "I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to actually say about the plot, but it's kind of about two estranged, dysfunctional brothers. It's a show set in kind of working-class Glasgow. I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that, but there you go. That might be an exclusive. I'll put it this way, it's not kind of got the Mad Men chic to it. It's an era show, but it's very sort of working class. So the clothes will probably reflect that."

Photography by Michael Duenas

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