‘Baby Reindeer’ Creator Richard Gadd to Star With Jamie Bell in HBO-BBC Series ‘Half Man’

Baby Reindeer creator and star Richard Gadd‘s next series has found its two leads — one of which is Gadd himself.

Jamie Bell will star with Gadd in Half Man (formerly Lions), which will run on HBO in the United States and the BBC in the U.K. and Ireland. The series, which Gadd is also writing and executive producing, is his first since Baby Reindeer became a Netflix breakout and multiple Emmy winner. HBO and the BBC jointly ordered the series in June.

Half Man will follow a long and complicated friendship between two men. The show’s description reads, “When Niall’s (Bell) estranged ‘brother’ Ruben (Gadd) shows up at his wedding, it leads to an explosion of violence that catapults us back through their lives. Spanning almost forty years from the 1980s to the present day, this ambitious series will cover the highs and lows of the brothers’ relationship, from them meeting as teenagers to their falling out as adults — with all the good, bad, terrible, funny, angry, and challenging moments along the way. It will capture the wild energy of a changing city — a changing world, even — and try to get to the bottom of the difficult question: What does it mean to be a man?”

Filming on Half Man is set to begin in 2025 in Scotland.

Gadd’s acting credits include the Peacock/Sky series Code 404 and Hulu’s Wedding Season. He is repped by UTA; Markham, Froggatt, and Irwin; and Individual Artist Management.

Bell’s recent work includes the feature films All of Us Strangers and Rocketman; he’s also set to star with Olivia Cooke in a romantic drama titled Takes One to Know One. He’s repped by CAA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Sloane Offer.

Gadd, who also has a first-look deal at Netflix (signed after the Half Man series pickup), will executive produce Half Man with Tally Garner and Morven Reid of Mam Tor Productions (a Banjilay UK company), Gaynor Holmes for the BBC and Gavin Smith for BBC Scotland. Wendy Griffin is producing. Alexandra Brodski and Eshref Reybrouck will direct.