Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell star in action-packed series Half Man – trailer
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Award-winning actors Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell violently confront each other and the police in an action-packed trailer for the new TV series, Half Man.
Scottish actor Gadd, who is best known for creating and starring in the hit dark-comedy Netflix series Baby Reindeer, will be taking on the role of Ruben Pallister in the show.
He will star alongside Bafta-winner Bell, who will play his estranged “brother” Niall Kennedy in the six-part drama which follows the turbulent, decades-long relationship of two non-biological brothers.
The trailer opens at Niall’s wedding reception, with Ruben standing out against the other guests wearing an all-black leather ensemble.
He delivers a speech, and says: “Hello, for those that don’t know me I’m Ruben Pallister. And I’m going to tell you about Niall Kennedy. I remember the first time I met him. He was only a kid.”
The viewer is then taken back to the 1980s, with Mitchell Robertson and Stuart Campbell playing younger versions of Niall and Ruben, respectively.
Niall is seen in the car with his mother being told that Ruben has moved into his room, to which he responds: “What, no way. He’s a psycho.”
The preview then cuts to the young Ruben disrupting an exam hall full of students at school, spliced in-between clips of the pair together as children and adults.
It is then revealed that the unlikely pair were brought together through their mothers, played by Neve McIntosh and Marianne McIvor, who are implied to be dating.
A young Ruben is later seen showing Niall how to defend himself from bullies, giving him a boxcutter and saying: “You’re family now.”
The trailer then cuts back to the present, with a series of violent scenes revolving around Ruben, with him punching an unseen character and covered in blood.
A clip of the past shows a young Niall running away from police officers.
In the present, Niall is seen speaking to Ruben and tells him: “You messed up my life.”
Ruben says: “Don’t talk like you’re better than me, not after what you did.”
Throughout the trailer, the pair are seen as adults and children fighting with one another, and also embracing each other, and an adult Niall can be heard telling Ruben: “I hate everything about you, the way you live your life… but that doesn’t stop me wanting every bit of it.”
Over scenes of funerals, tears, fights and further drama, Ruben says: “You think I’m to blame for all your problems. You’ve wasted your whole life dancing to other people’s tunes. Instead of marching to the beat your own drum.”
The tense, dramatic trailer comes to a climax with a car crash, a police chase and Niall and Ruben sharing a angsty embrace.
It ends with a scene of the pair talking in what appears to be a cafe, and Ruben says: “You know the worst part about all this? Is that I trust you more than anyone.”
The series, produced by the BBC and HBO, is said to explore brotherhood, violence, and the fragility of male relationships as it follows the pair’s 30-year friendship.
Half Man will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from April 24th.
