Half Man: Richard Gadd on ‘sexuality crisis’, modern masculinity and impact of Baby Reindeer (EXCLUSIVE)
"When I was going through a sexuality crisis, feeling confused, what I felt I was missing was something on TV that represented that," says Gadd
Half Man star Richard Gadd has said he has felt “left behind” by some forms of LGBTQ representation when he was experiencing a “sexuality crisis” in the past.
The Baby Reindeer creator returns this month with BBC six-parter Half Man, in which he and Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell play brothers Ruben and Niall.
The latter is shown to struggle with his sexual attraction to men, which leads to risky and self-destructive behaviours.
The first episode of Half Man will air on 24 April from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
“There’s a feeling in people I’ve met and I know who are going through a sexuality crisis, of feeling left behind in a way” – Half Man star Richard Gadd
“When I was going through a sexuality crisis, feeling confused – any identity struggle – what I felt I was missing was something on TV that represented that,” he told Attitude in a recent interview.
“There [are] people, more than [we] care to admit in this age of moral and ethical enlightenment, sometimes there’s a feeling in people I’ve met and I know who are going through a sexuality crisis, of feeling left behind in a way. This world is progressing around them and they’re not moving with it.
“It can add a pressure and a layer of difficulty to it.”
He added: “Seeing the full and complete and heartwarming version, some people respond to that. ‘I can get there one day, and that will be amazing.’ But I think a lot of people just want to see something they’re going through. And as someone’s who’s struggled in my life with various aspects, I feel it is my duty in my art in a way to show struggle for the people who do feel left behind.”
He added there is room for Half Man and lighter shows like Heartstopper, saying: “Both provide healing to a certain degree in all the right ways.”
“I don’t know what it means to be a man, but I know it’s going through such flux”
Elsewhere in our interview, the 36-year-old reflected on what it means to be a man: “It’s like trying to answer the meaning of life! You sort of can’t answer it!”
He went on: “I don’t know what it means to be a man. But I know it’s going through such flux and change right now that it’s worth exploring. I want people to take out of it what they want to take out of it. I never wanted to go into a series and say: ‘By the end of this, you’re going to know what a man is.'”
On the success of Baby Reindeer, he said: “I hoped to one day write a piece of work that would resonate with people on a scale that would satisfy me. I think all of my intentions with Half Man and Baby Reindeer are fundamentally creative endeavours for what I get out of it.”
He went on: “All I’m interested in is making the best work I possibly can do.”