Richard Gadd has undergone a huge physical transformation for his forthcoming BBC and HBO series Half Man.
The 36-year-old Scottish actor and writer is worlds away from his biographical stalker comedy-drama Baby Reindeer, which propelled him to global stardom after becoming a Netflix phenomenon upon its premiere in April 2024.
Gadd, who created the new drama, has debuted the new look in preview images, sporting a muscular physique, tattoos and a full beard, alongside his co-star Jamie Bell.
The pair play brothers Ruben and Niall, who are reunited after years of estrangement until violence erupts and catapults viewers back through time over the course of the series.
Half Man spans four decades from the 1980s to the present day, with Curfew actor Mitchell Robertson playing Gadd’s younger counterpart, and SAS Rogue Heroes star Stuart Campbell starring as a younger version of Bell’s character.
The six-episode series explores the “highs and lows of Ruben and Niall’s relationship, from meeting them as troubled teenagers to witnessing their falling out as adults – with all the good, bad, terrible, funny, angry and challenging moments along the way”.
Half Man also stars Tin Star actor Neve McIntosh, Charlie De Melo (Rivals) and The Agency’s Bilal Hasna.
Gadd’s award-winning Netflix series Baby Reindeer followed a comedian who is relentlessly harassed and stalked by a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning).
The show was based on Gadd’s own experiences and found itself embroiled in controversy after internet sleuths unearthed the “real Martha” as Fiona Harvey.
Harvey brought a $170m (£132m) lawsuit against the show, saying the claim that it’s a “true story” is “the biggest lie in television history”.
According to documents seen by The Independent, Harvey has accused Netflix of defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of her right to privacy among other allegations.
Harvey’s defamation lawsuit was handed a trial date for this year, but it has been delayed on appeal.
Gadd has said his Baby Reindeer follow-up is a “departure from the kind of autobiographical, semi-biographical stuff that I've done before, but it's still dark”.
“It still explores the contradictions of the human condition, but it feels nice not to be turning in it all the time while I'm doing it,” he told a panel of journalists at the Spirit Awards in February. “So this one I wouldn't say is a full departure.”
He added that he hoped that working on something that wasn't based on his own life would “be a healthy thing to do”.
Half Man will air in 2026.
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