‘The days I had to have sex with randoms, I thought thank God!’ Jamie Bell on eye-popping drama Half

N ot many actors are relieved when they have to film an eye-poppingly explicit sex scene, but that was the case with Jamie Bell on Half Man. His role involved chemsex in saunas, dogging in car parks and illicit quickies in library loos. “Honestly, I was so grateful to be shooting that stuff and not fucking 16-page dialogue scenes, where you’re emoting and it’s so intense,” says Bell.

“On days when my character had to have sex with random people, I’d think: ‘Thank God!’ Frankly, it came as a welcome reprieve.” Richard Gadd’s first TV show since the Emmy-gobbling global Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, Half Man chronicles the combustible, codependent relationship between two “brothers from another lover”. Niall (Bell) is bookish, bullied and closeted. Ruben (Gadd) is the swaggeringly violent ex-con son of his mother’s girlfriend. The six-part drama – which reaches its devastating finale next week – traces the inseparable duo’s toxic relationship across three decades. It’s no-holds-barred TV, full of sex, violence and gut-punch plot twists. “It’s a brutal, beastly thing that Richard has created,” says Bell. “I’d be lying if I said it was easy or fun to make.” Oh, brother … Bell with Richard Gadd in Half Man. “I didn’t realise that when I initially read the scripts,” says Bell. “But later, when I met Richard in Los Angeles to discuss it, he said he wrote it with me in mind. I was incredibly flattered … It’s a sensory experience reading Richard’s material. He truly takes you to those places in your own life. It probes experiences you’ve kept hidden away somewhere and chosen to forget.” Gadd never intended to play Ruben himself until Bell persuaded him.

Key points

• “On days when my character had to have sex with random people, I’d think: ‘Thank God!’ Frankly, it came as a welcome reprieve.” Richard Gadd’s first TV show since the Emmy-gobbling global Netflix h…
• Niall (Bell) is bookish, bullied and closeted.
• Ruben (Gadd) is the swaggeringly violent ex-con son of his mother’s girlfriend.
• The six-part drama – which reaches its devastating finale next week – traces the inseparable duo’s toxic relationship across three decades.
• It’s no-holds-barred TV, full of sex, violence and gut-punch plot twists.