His starring role in Richard Gadd\u2019s brutal toxic masculinity series is a far cry from his days as Billy Elliot. The actor opens up about gruelling shoots, dancing on toilets \u2013 and why he can\u2019t ever just chill out<\/p>\n
Not 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. \u201cHonestly, I was so grateful to be shooting that stuff and not fucking 16-page dialogue scenes, where you\u2019re emoting and it\u2019s so intense,\u201d says Bell. \u201cOn days when my character had to have sex with random people, I\u2019d think: \u2018Thank God!\u2019 Frankly, it came as a welcome reprieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard Gadd\u2019s first TV show since the Emmy-gobbling global Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, Half Man chronicles the combustible, codependent relationship between two \u201cbrothers from another lover\u201d. Niall (Bell) is bookish, bullied and closeted. Ruben (Gadd) is the swaggeringly violent ex-con son of his mother\u2019s girlfriend. The six-part drama \u2013 which reaches its devastating finale next week \u2013 traces the inseparable duo\u2019s toxic relationship across three decades.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/fdda29e4d1d45f70eb599f2c7c2c9c737e5c0ecf\/0_819_8708_6965\/master\/8708.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e387a71f35eb6aa18bc8bfb9e17f0d54\" "\\"\u2018The")
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