‘Half Man’: Richard Gadd on making his return with a brutal and timely new drama

It starts with a punch at a wedding. An almighty, earth-shattering thwack of a thing and a shocking act of violence which kicks off a frank and brutal exploration of male violence, trauma and personal relationships across three whole decades.

But did you really expect anything less from the mind of Richard Gadd? Half Man, which arrives on BBC One/HBO next week, is the Scottish writer and actor’s anticipated follow-up to Baby Reindeer, which became a a mega-hit for Netflix when it aired in 2024 and attracted a cool 65 million viewers worldwide in its first month of release.

Gadd’s new show is even more uncompromising as his life-changing debut, but it certainly feels like it is set to dominate the zeitgeist in the same way. Across six ambitious and sprawling episodes, we follow the decades-long relationship between quiet and unassuming Niall (Jamie Bell) and unpredictable psycho Ruben (Gadd). It is at times, an incredibly challenging watch, but one that you’ll simultaneously be unable to peel your eyes away from.

“I usually think an idea is worth listening to if it stays with you,” explains Gadd of the show, which he conceived before cameras had even started rolling on Baby Reindeer.

“I come up with loads of ideas, but this one I just couldn’t shake. It became an obsession and I’m assuming it was because there was a lot of stuff around male violence and rage and repression at the time, so something must have just drifted into my subconscious enough to really excite me from a creative point of view.”

You can read and watch our full Q&A with Gadd below.

Niall [Jamie Bell] goes through experiences of sexual violence and substance abuse in the show, which is something you’ve spoken openly about experiencing yourself. Ruben, of course, is deeply unhinged and violent. I wondered if there was anything surprising or unexpected in him that you may see in yourself?

That’s a good question. I think there’s a lot I don’t relate to with Ruben. I think Ruben’s going through a human struggle that I think I recognise in everyone, that every
person goes through. I don’t think anyone drifts through life without going through something that becomes a preoccupation of their mind or some struggle with themselves. He is like so many people running from tragedy in a way. So I can relate to that aspect of his character.

Mostly it was trying to get inside somebody that was so different from me. I wanted to transform from the thin neurotic guy in Baby Reindeer to this guy like Ruben. I never really tried to get to him by digging deep into what I was like in relation to him. It was more a case of how do I get as far away from me as possible in order to try and inhabit this person?

I found him quite terrifying. There was a feeling of dread which I last encountered when I watched De Niro in Cape Fear – a real sense of visceral horror in my gut. I haven’t had that feeling for a while. How did you get into that headspace?

It’s amazing to get all the array of opinions around him and how people react. I suppose I never had a touchpoint for him. I’m very flattered by that comparison, but I never had one in my head. I think I thought what would be so bad for Ruben is if he knew he was… well, ‘psychopath’ feels reductive, but if he knew he was capable of this sort of violence and rage and he knew it. I really felt like he had to be broken. Every single time I went into a scene, people probably would imagine me doing press-ups or lifting weights, and I sometimes did do that before a topless scene. But I actually was trying to capture the sadness. My way of getting into character for Ruben was to try and figure out how he feels on a primal level, which I think is actually great sadness.

I think he’s running from a scared small boy. In everything he does when he’s confronting someone, I really felt like behind his eyes you needed to see quite a lot of pain, and that was where I was going with it as much as I possibly could. We’ll see if it works.

You spoke of trying to get into character before a scene, and Ruben is an incredibly intense character. How do you contrast that against the need to create a harmonious atmosphere on set when this is your show?

It is sometimes tough to shake off the day, but I ultimately think I know what I’ve signed up for in a way with this show and without giving anything away, there are scenes in Half Man where I really cry and get into some really aggressive head spaces. I don’t think you’re
going to be able to do that if you don’t actually make yourself really feel what you need to feel for the scene. But really it is a job, and I’ve got so many jobs on set. It’s not like I go home and sit with Ruben. I always say ‘cut’ and I go behind the monitor and I watch what’s been done and I feed back to directors and have conversations with people all the time. So in a lot of ways I never felt like I was in him.

I wanted to ask about that one particular scene where Niall is holding a press conference for his book and his agent emphatically states that the questions should be focused on his work and not the personal events that may have inspired it. Is that a subtle comment on how your own personal life was scrutinised after the huge success of Baby Reindeer?

It was more of a coincidence, but I can fully appreciate why people would think that. I think the point was showing that Niall wanted to succeed so bad and even in his
success, when he gets everything he’s ever wanted, Ruben’s shadow hangs over him and still people are more interested in Ruben than him. It was mainly just to show that even in his highest moments he feels inferior to Ruben. It had nothing to do with Baby Reindeer, but I think just the nature of Baby Reindeer and the weight in which it holds in society, in terms of interest and everything, I think people will always think that I’m in some way
linked to that show. But in this respect, it was purely born out of character and circumstance.

On a very much lighter note, you’re a noted football fan that and back for Soccer Aid this summer. Will you be going to the States to see the mighty Tartan Army in the World Cup?

I really hope to! There’s a lot of work stuff happening. 1998 was the last time Scotland won at the World Cup, so I’d be a fool to miss it. So I’ve got to try and get there in some capacity.

How are your hopes? How are you feeling?

We’re going to win. Is it even in question? No, we’ll do well. I think the job is already done in a lot of ways. We’ve answered the hopes and prayers of a nation for, well, I don’t know how many years, and that in itself is a success. So anything that happens is a success from here. But I think they can do well. I think they can get past the group stage. [They are] a way more mighty team than people give them credit for.

Baby Reindeer and Half Man are both thematically intense shows – could your next project be an all-out comedy?

If an idea takes me in some way I think I’d do it no matter what it was, whatever genre. If I feel preoccupied with [it] enough that I can do it justice then I would. I think it’s all dependent on the place I’m at in my life really. I don’t feel like, let’s say, a workplace sitcom would really be something I could honour because I don’t feel in that mood or like I want to write that kind of stuff. But maybe in ten years time I could do it justice. Life is too short in a way and I always have ideas that I would love to just stack up and find a way to stop time and just do them all somehow. There’s an identity in these shows that feels very indicative of the place I’m in at the moment.

Perfect. Finally, Ruben has a very unique hairstyle, let’s say. How hard was it living with that particular ’do when you weren’t filming?

The worst part was the beard! The hair was one thing. I think it looked really bad from the back. From the sides, you could almost sweep it away. I think the way I grow facial hair is like a bird’s nest – it just held everything. You look at the mirror and be like, ‘How long has that been in my beard for?’ It just seemed to pick up everything all the time. I’m very much on the move, going around with a beard, and I obviously had put on a lot of weight. I put a lot of visceral fat around my muscles so I could look real and bulky. I always wanted to be a burly sort of guy, and I felt like I was walking around and I was big and I had this beard and this mad hairstyle. There were definitely times when I wished I could just do a bit of cardio and get back to myself.