“Baby Reindeer” creator and star Richard Gadd opened up about his new show, Canneseries opener “Half Man.”
It explores a complicated relationship between two brothers, Niall and Ruben, with Gadd acting alongside Jamie Bell. Stuart Campbell and Mitchell Robertson play younger versions of their characters.
“I sometimes just feel an impulse to write about something. I wrote the first episode back in 2019 and really wanted to go back to it, to honor the story and these characters. I assume there were many conversations about male rage and violence around that time, and some of it seeped into my subconsciousness.”
Refusing to explain its title – “I don’t want to say why ‘Half Man’ because it’s important for people to have different interpretations. I don’t want to rob them of that” – he admitted he wasn’t always supposed to play Ruben.
“Initially, I wasn’t going to be in it at all. I thought I would be just behind the camera. Jamie was the first person to bring it up. He said: ‘I really want to be acting opposite you as Ruben.’ Nobody has suggested it before. I thought I would cameo as a policeman or a bartender. That was the only meaningful character left that point. It terrified me and terrified us all, because you look at me and you don’t think of this masculine id.”
He said: “I went home and I was shaken by the idea of it. But all my ‘what ifs’ were about what will people would think, and that’s a dangerous headspace. What an opportunity to play a role like this, one that doesn’t come around often, and I would deprive myself of it out of fear of what people would think? That wasn’t good enough. And now we will see.”
He decided to undergo a radical physical transformation for the role.
“It’s an exploration of male masculinity and violence, and later in his life he needed to feel unhinged. I wanted him… Burly. That was the word I kept using to the personal trainers. I didn’t want this Hollywood sort of body with a sixpack. He wasn’t a gym goer. He’s heavy in his body because of life. It’s almost animalistic and it had to be real.”
Gadd wants people to enjoy his work, he said.
“I never thought about all these expectations and pressure until I finished the edit. I just want people to like it and to respond to it, in whatever way they see fit. If you provoke a reaction, that’s great.”
He certainly provoked one with “Baby Reindeer,” which became a global smash. But Scottish actor, in town in Cannes also to accept the Konbini Commitment Award, started out doing stand-up.
“I saw all these comedians giving it a shot, and I was in awe of it. It looked so much fun. I realized it wasn’t once I started to do it myself. The first gig was actually alright, but the second and hundred others weren’t. “
How were they, then?
“Terrible. That’s how I would describe it. It took a while to get going. None of it felt very genuine. Then I understood that all these gaps between the jokes, that’s what I found funny. I liked it when something wouldn’t land. I saw this human frailty within it. So I wrote a bunch of intentionally terrible jokes.”
“Baby Reindeer” was his last show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
“Someone told me, and it was good advice: ‘You should go to Edinburgh until you don’t have to anymore’,” he laughed.
“It was a talk of the town, I suppose. It exploded. All channels were interested; it was a bidding war. Netflix felt like the right home for it.”
Exploring difficult subject of sexual violence against men, he thought of it as an “indie film.”
“With this subject, it was never supposed to achieve the way [it did]. It’s too idiosyncratic to be that commercial, but that’s also the reason why it stood out,” he said, also praising his co-star Jessica Gunning.
“There’s a hesitation to tackle a lot of topics on TV. Not just with sexual violence, but with anything that’s challenging emotionally for people. But people want to be challenged. If you look at two shows that exploded into public consciousness and zeitgeist, you think of ‘Baby Reindeer’ and ‘Adolescence.’ One was about a comedian having a psycho-sexual relationship with a stalker, and another about a 15-year-old killing his schoolmate. None of them screamed commercial hit. All you need is authenticity to have the trappings of a hit.”
Still, the show’s concrete social impact and people’s growing awareness is what he’s most proud of. Gadd is an ambassador for We Are Survivors, a sexual abuse charity for men.
“Their statement is ‘break the silence,’ which is something that got me out of my own hellhole. I never used to speak about these things. I thought people would judge me and I would feel disempowered. They do amazing work.”
“Baby Reindeer” brought him awards – and recognition beyond his wildest dreams.
“I asked Steve Martin for a photo and he asked for one back. I’m a big wresting fan, a big John Cena fan, and he sent me a video saying how much he loved the show. Elton John phoned me. But the biggest one was The Pogues,” he recalled. Gadd also got to rewatch his Emmy speech, where he said: “The only constant across any success in TV is good storytelling that speaks to our times.”
“I think it’s true. If you look at all these success stories, they are ingenious ideas told through a prism of a singular voice. What really captures the masses are stories you didn’t know you needed to hear. That’s the secret formula. A mob boss with clinical depression, a chemistry teacher cooking meth, a sex addict and a priest falling in love.”
While he doesn’t find letting go easy – “There’s this quote that all artistic endeavors are abandoned, never finished” – you just have to get going.
“Keeping on going is all I know in life. The show came out on Thursday and nothing much happened. My manager took me to a restaurant. It was a ‘better luck next time’ meal. And then a weekend came, when people do all their binging. On Sunday I couldn’t go anywhere.”
He has “loads of plans, not just in TV,” but will he ever go back to comedy?
“Never say never, but probably never.”
“What drives me is whatever is next. I need something to become my next obsession.”
