Half Man cast: New BBC drama introduces Coronation Street star in 'unexpected' twist
The Baby Reindeer star looks unrecognisable in the new series
Half Man, the new BBC drama from Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd, has a who’s who of primetime telly stars in its cast.
Gadd had a few brief on-screen roles in the 2010s (Scot Squad, Humans, and Outlander, among them). But he found sudden, meteoric success and fame with Baby Reindeer, his autobiographical Netflix series about a real-life stalking ordeal.
Now, he’s teamed with BBC and HBO for a dark, intense new drama. Half Man follows two estranged brothers, “not related in blood but the closest you can get”, and their relationship over the course of three tumultuous, violent decades.
Gadd himself stars in the drama, but there are plenty of other faces you’ll recognise – including a fan-favourite Corrie star.
***Warning: spoilers for Half Man ahead***
Half Man cast: Richard Gadd plays Ruben
Gadd plays one half of… well, Half Man: Ruben Pallister, Niall’s hot-tempered, smooth-talking brute of a “brother from another lover”.
Ruben doesn’t like being told what (or what not) to do. He’s also loyal to a fault, going to extreme lengths to punish those who threaten him or his family.
“Ruben is so far from any role I’ve taken on before and also from me as a person,” Gadd told the BBC.
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He’s not wrong. Gadd has physically transformed himself for the role, putting on “a lot of muscle” with a restricted diet and plenty of time in the gym.
Gadd is definitely most famous for Baby Reindeer. Based on his one-man Edinburgh Fringe play, it saw him portray Donny, a struggling comedian who’s stalked by a woman from the bar he works in. He won three Emmys and a BAFTA for his work on the show.
Jamie Bell plays Niall
Niall, Ruben’s meeker, insecure younger ‘brother’, is played by Jamie Bell.
There’s actually little we can say about their characters’ dynamic, without veering into spoiler territory. However, it’s fair to say they speak to the title: they’re two halves of a good, compassionate, brazen man, and they are fascinating to watch together.
“Niall has identified Ruben as this aspirational person and I believe that’s because Ruben is unapologetically who he is and although Ruben’s problematic, at least he’s honest,” Bell told the BBC.
“Meanwhile Niall is always fraught with this sense that he can’t be honest about who he really is and that’s the essence of their whole relationship.”
Bell hasn’t done much television (he last starred in Shining Girls in 2022). However, he’s a bona fide film star, whether it’s his beloved debut in Billy Elliot or roles in Rocketman, All of Us Strangers, or Snowpiercer.
Half Man cast: Stuart Campbell portrays young Ruben
Half Man flicks between the past and present, with two young actors cast to play Ruben and Niall’s teen counterparts.
Stuart Campbell, who’s appeared in SAS Rogue Heroes and Shetland, takes on Ruben’s adolescent years. He was born in Scotland, but moved to England as a child, though he’s always tried to retain his Scottish roots.
He also had conversations about making his version of Ruben feel authentic to Gadd’s performance.
“We both individually decided that we wanted to bulk up for the role before we even had that conversation together,” he explained.
“I wanted to feel like Ruben had a real presence and was commanding in a room and that physical approach was important to the both of us. Beyond that physicality, we didn’t discuss the details too much as we’re both playing that character when he’s at very different points in his life.
“Of course, as an executive producer, Richard was on set a lot, so he could see the Ruben I was before, but he made it clear he didn’t want to inhibit any ideas or spontaneity I could find when filming.”
Mitchell Robertson plays young Niall
Mitchell Robertson plays Niall in his younger years. The actor has a few strong credits to his name, considering he’s only been active since 2021.
He’s appeared in Marriage, A Very British Scandal, Grace, and Mayflies, as well as voicing Oliver Wood in Audible’s Harry Potter series.
Half Man is his biggest role to date. It felt like a “full circle” moment for him, given it was filmed in Abronhill, in Cumbernauld, where he first lived as a baby.
“The character changes, and the Niall that Jamie portrays years on is different from mine, but the core thread stays the same,” he said.
“Throughout the shoot I sent Jamie some audio clips so that he could hear my accent, but Stuart and I were deliberately in the dark during about what happens in the later episodes. I’m excited to watch it all as an audience member.”
How old are Mitchell Robertson and Stuart Campbell?
While Mitchell Robertson and Stuart Campbell are meant to be playing teenagers, they’re actually much older in real life.
Campbell is 27 years old, while Robertson is 28.
So, why were they cast? Well, as soon as Richard Gadd saw their audition, he “felt the same way as [he] did” about Jessica Gunning, who played Martha in Baby Reindeer.
“It had to be them. I didn’t doubt it for a second,” he told The Wrap.
“What they got most of all was the pain and the conflict in the characters. I think a lot of people came in with Ruben, and they popped the chest and shouted every line. They played the violence of the character when really I wanted to see the pain.
“Then, with Mitchell, he played the conflict. I found that a lot of people played Niall in the body, and they’d be very meek. They would kind of close off, and they’d be like, ‘I need to be like a dainty little kid.’ But it wasn’t about that. It was about the internal strife that he feels.”
Also, there could be another reason that Gadd wanted to cast older actors. Given the sexual content and violence of the first two episodes, Gadd likely felt it was safer (or perhaps he was obligated) to cast adults.
For example, in 28 Years Later, Chi Lewis-Parry had to wear a prosthetic penis because he was in scenes with Alfie Williams, a child actor. While not as extreme, there could be similar reasoning with Half Man.
Neve McIntosh stars as Lori, Niall’s mum
Neve McIntosh stars as Lori, Niall’s mother, in Half Man.
She isn’t a bad mum, but it’d be fair to say she isn’t always the most considerate (and is dreadful at delivering bad news).
“Niall’s relationship with Lori is one that I think will constantly confound people throughout the series. I think Lori is always trying to do what she sees as the right thing, whilst at the same time always saying the wrong thing to Niall and perhaps doing wrong by him too,” Robertson told the BBC.
“You’ll see that there’s a lot of love within that relationship between mother and son, and also none whatsoever at the same time. I think that the absence of Niall’s father from his childhood ultimately informs a lot about how Lori raises him and who he becomes.”
Viewers may remember McIntosh from her role as Sister Donna Rix in Jed Mercurio’s Bodies (one of the best BBC dramas).
She has also starred in Doctor Who, Death in Paradise, Shetland, and All Creatures Great & Small.
Half Man cast also stars Marianne McIvor as Ruben’s mother, Maura
Marianne McIvor appears as Maura, Ruben’s mother.
Maura has a complicated relationship with both Ruben and Niall. She’s sympathetic to Ruben even when he does terrible things, but she tends to be quite critical of Niall.
“I think it’s really interesting that you only see Maura and Ruben in a couple of shots together,” Campbell said.
“There’s an abundance of Niall and Lori in their beautifully funny and tragic relationship, but we don’t see that for Maura and Ruben, and they don’t interact much with each other. So, I think there’s a lack of closeness with his mum that informs who he is and how he treats women.”
McIvor appeared in the BBC’s Bombing of Pan Am 103 series, as well as Karen Pirie, Screw, and The Nest.
Charlie de Melo as Alby
Charlie de Melo plays Alby, a friend of Niall’s whom he meets at university.
In episode 2, the younger version of his character is brutally assaulted by Ruben. However, in the closing scene, there’s a big reveal: the person Niall is marrying is… Alby!
You may not recognise Charlie De Melo at first (or the fact it’s Alby), but look closely and you’ll see facial scars.
Coronation Street fans will instantly recognise De Melo as Imran, a role he held for five years and over 400 episodes. He also appeared in EastEnders as PC Jaz Jones and had small roles in Doctor Who, Ellis, and Rivals.
Bilal Hasna as young Alby
Bilal Hasna plays Alby’s young counterpart, appearing in the series as Niall arrives at university.
Hasna has only been acting since 2020, but he’s been busy. He’s appeared in Screw, Extraordinary, 3 Body Problem, Black Mirror, and Slow Horses.
Half Man cast: Kate Robson-Stuart as Joanna
Kate Robson-Stuart plays the grown-up version of Joanna, one of Niall’s friends from university.
Half Man marks Robson-Stuart’s first on-screen role, though it follows over a decade of stage experience in the likes of Amelie, Once, and Annie Get Your Gun.
Julie Cullen plays young Joanna
Julie Cullen stars as Joanna in the character’s university years.
Cullen starred alongside Unchosen’s Molly Windsor in Traces, but Half Man is arguably her biggest role to date.
Amy Manson plays Mona
Amy Manson plays Mona, whom Niall and Ruben first meet in their school years.
According to Robertson, “Ruben brings Mona into his life in quite an extreme way.” If you’re looking for more specifics… you’ll need to wait and see for yourself!
As for where you may have seen Manson before, she’s appeared in The Nevers, Netflix’s Bodies, and she played Merida in Once Upon a Time. Casualty viewers may remember her as Abby Evans, and she also starred in Being Human as Daisy.
Charlotte Blackwood plays young Mona
Charlotte Blackwood portrays Mona in her teenage years. The actress, who graduated from the Oxford School of Drama, has only appeared in a short film (called Jack) before Half Man.
Full cast of Half Man on BBC
- Sandy Batchelor (SAS Rogue Heroes, 28 Years Later)
- Kal Sabir (Dept. Q, Slow Horses)
- Ruchika Jain (The London Files)
- Philippine Velge (Station Eleven)
- Russ Bain (Shetland)
- Anthony Bradley (Because We Are Too Many)
- Paul Antony-Barber (House of Anubis)
- Simon Chandler (The Diplomat)
- Scot Greenan (T2 Trainspotting)
- Adam McNamara (I Swear)
- Rowan McIntosh (Crookhaven)
- Stuart McQuarrie (Shetland, The Tower)
- Colin McCredie (Taggart, River City)
- John Scougall (California Schemin’)
- Euan Macnaughton (Dinosaur)
- Sam Garioch (Outlander)
- Gordon Brown (Shetland, Dept. Q)
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