Jamie Bell: ‘I’d be lying if I said making Richard Gadd’s BBC drama was fun’

As Richard Gadd’s boundary-pushing BBC drama Half Man careens towards a dramatic climax, lead star Jamie Bell has shared that the process wasn’t ‘easy or fun’.

The six-part series follows the volatile relationship between ‘step-brothers’ Ruben (Richard) and Niall (Jamie) across three decades from their fraught adolescence in Glasgow in the 80s through to the present day, where Niall’s wedding is interrupted by a violent confrontation.

Polar opposites – Niall, a shy, soft-hearted lad and Ruben, a rough, tough ‘alpha male’ – their conflicting personalities make for an even more fraught dynamic you can’t help but watch play out with morbid curiosity.

Known for confronting dark themes in his work, Gadd’s latest project holds no bars in its exploration of toxic masculinity, abuse and twisted families.

There are several tough-to-watch sequences between our duel protagonists, infused with emotional and physical violence, psychological torment and decades of baggage almost impossible to pick through.

All this to say that it’s not easy viewing, and – if the Billy Elliot star’s recounting is anything to go by – it wasn’t a walk-in-the-park to film either.

‘It’s a brutal, beastly thing that Richard has created. I’d be lying if I said it was easy or fun to make,’ the Peaky Blinders star said in a recent interview.

He went further in his praise of the scripts, calling it a ‘sensory experience’ to read them, especially flattered to know the role of Niall was written with him in mind.

‘He truly takes you to those places in your own life. It probes experiences you’ve kept hidden away somewhere and chosen to forget,’ the Bafta-winning actor, 40, told The Guardian.

And he understood, more than most, the troubled attraction Niall had for Ruben, even if it was self-destructive.

‘I grew up in an all-female household and did ballet, so I used to attach myself to tough, troubled guys too. Not my kind of crowd at all, but I’d rather have them on my team than not,’ he shared, adding that he also relates to Niall’s ‘self-loathing’, especially when it comes to his professional life.

The final episode brings it all to the table, both metaphorically and literally. He points to one face-to-face sequence between the pair that mixes in their men’s history and makes for truly fine TV.

‘There’s nothing to cut to, no guns or gimmicks, just two men looking at each other and coming clean,’ he said.

Then added about another moment where he vomits: ‘Throwing up on screen is always bizarre. You fill your mouth with oatmeal, banana, peas and carrots, then spew it out.’

Following in the footsteps of Richard’s TV debut, Baby Reindeer, Half Man has raked in glowing reviews from across the board, hailed as a ‘bleak and chilling’, ‘brave’ and ‘striking’ story.

Discussing his inspiration behind the show, he told the BBC: ‘Mainly I just thought it was interesting to take two men, put them in a period where society has progressed and then flashback to a time when society was at its most unaccepting’.

The first five episodes of Half Man are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. The final episode comes out on Friday, May 29.

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