Like in his previous series Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd once again stars in his new creation, Half Man, playing the violent yet loyal Ruben opposite Jamie Bell’s mild-mannered Niall.
However, they aren’t the only two actors taking on those roles – they are also portrayed at a younger age by Stuart Campbell and Mitchell Robertson, with these two leading the series for a substantial portion.
Campbell and Robertson spoke with Radio Times about their versions of the characters, with Young Ruben star Campbell revealing that he initially wanted to audition for the role of Niall.
“I’d never really played a character like it,” Campbell said of Ruben. “So I was begging my agent to let me audition for Niall, but Kahleen [Crawford, casting director] said, ‘No, you’re not allowed.'”
Speaking about Ruben’s feelings towards Niall at the start of the series, Campbell said: “Ruben feels an envy towards Niall. Obviously, they are, on the surface different people, but they’re both dealing with a lot of pain and shame in different ways, and both have things that the other one feels envy towards.
“Certainly, speaking for Ruben, things that [Niall has] – stability and maternal care and affection – are things that he’s not really experienced. So on some level, although he probably can’t communicate it, he’s envious of that.”
Explaining where fans will meet his version of Ruben, Campbell said: “He’s fresh out of the young offenders. He’s two years older, fresh out of young offenders, needed to probably fight a lot to survive inside.
“And it’s a strange place to come back to – a new house, living with [Niall], living with [Niall’s] mum, what that means, and it’s a very complicated, strange set of circumstances for a 17 year old and a 15 year old to have to leap into.”
Meanwhile, Robertson, who plays the younger version of Niall, spoke about how he and Bell worked together to create a character which felt consistent.
“We actually workshopped quite a lot with the director, Alex [Brodski],” he said. “We had prep time right before shooting, like a week or two. We were in this building doing prep and costume fits and makeup tests and camera tests, and so we did workshop a lot with the director, which was amazing.
“And then I spoke to Jamie a little bit. I spoke to him on Zoom a little bit, and we spoke a little bit about the character, and then we emailed a little bit throughout shooting, and I sent over some accent stuff.”
He continued: “I think for me and Jamie, because we [Robertson and Campbell] shot first, and then they [Bell and Gadd] shot after, and I wasn’t really quite sure how I was going to do it yet, it was a lot of me doing it, and then him having access to some of the footage. And then all the credit is with Jamie there, because then he went away and did all his work to follow that.”
Half Man charts 30 years in the lives of Ruben and Niall, from when they are brought together in their teenage years and become like brothers, through to Niall’s wedding day when an explosion of violence takes place.
Half Man will arrive on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Tuesday 21 April 2026.
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