Half Man is Richard Gadd’s next major show after his global success with Netflix’s Baby Reindeer.
Richard Gadd is Half Man’s creator and executive producer but he wasn’t always going to star in the BBC drama.
After they find themselves unexpectedly living together, Ruben (played by Stuart Campbell) and Niall (Mitchell Robertson) become like brothers, one fierce and loyal, the other meek and mild-mannered.
Over the course of six episodes, Half Man follows the pairs’ lives over the next 30 years until Niall’s (Jamie Bell) wedding day and violent Ruben ( Richard Gadd ) brings trouble.
While Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd created and executive produced this new BBC series, he wasn’t initially going to portray Ruben.
It wasn’t until he was convinced that he was right for the part by Billy Elliot icon Jamie Bell that he decided to take on the ruthless role.
Speaking at a Q&A with the BBC, Gadd explained: “I wasn’t going to do it to begin with.
“I wasn’t going to do Ruben, because acting in something and directing and doing everything else is a lot.
“You have to see a show from the inside and the outside which is actually the main pressure of the role.
“So I wasn’t going to do it, I didn’t want to do it. Baby Reindeer was out and that’d take one thing off my plate.
“But Jamie [Bell] was the first to suggest it. He was like ‘have you ever thought about doing this?’
“And it sort of terrified me in a way. I was like ‘Wow. That’s real far.’
“But I often feel that what scares you in life, you should probably do it.”
While Gadd’s co-star Jamie Bell shot to fame as Billy Elliot in the iconic 2000 film, he is set to take on another unforgettable role.
Bell will be joining the Peaky Blinders universe in the upcoming two-season sequel as Tommy Shelby’s (Cillian Murphy) son Duke Shelby in the 1950s.
The role of Duke was originally portrayed by Saltburn star Barry Keoghan in the Netflix film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Half Man premieres on Tuesday, April 28, at 10.40pm on BBC One.