Exclusive: Half Man's Richard Gadd on toxic masculinity, Emmys and Baby Reindeer

In an exclusive chat with India Today, Richard Gadd discusses how Half Man tackles masculinity, trauma and male violence. He says the series avoids easy answers while making space for difficult conversations.Richard Gadd in a still from Half Man. Credits: HBO/Lionsgate PlayAfter the global success of Baby Reindeer, the Emmy-winning writer-actor Richard Gadd returns with HBO’s Half Man. This limited series delves into masculinity, violence, and the lasting impact of trauma with the same unflinching honesty that has become his trademark. The series has also earned Gadd a 2026 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. In an exclusive interview with India Today, he opened up about writing Half Man, resisting the pressure of expectations, why the show’s violence needed to feel real, and why he refuses to offer simple answers to complex questions.Excerpts:Q. After Baby Reindeer, which dealt with so much trauma, Half Man explores masculinity and gets darker and darker. What was your headspace like while writing and creating this series?I sort of wrote towards what I thought was creatively interesting. I think there are people who live extremely challenging lives all the time, and when you carry the burden of the past in the way these two characters do, I always wanted to lean into that. I wanted to write about the damage they’ve gone through and how that unfolds in their lives.Writing it was a challenge because it has an atypical structure—almost like a mosaic of memories. I really wanted to challenge myself in that way. The whole thing was a great challenge, and there was a lot of time pressure. I had to dig deep, but it wasn’t necessarily the subject matter that was difficult. The ambition of the whole project was the biggest challenge. Q. Half Man explores masculinity in a way we rarely see on screen. What does toxic masculinity mean to you, and has your understanding of it changed over the years?The thing is, when I get into projects, I never really write with the intention of exploring certain themes. I knew that, in a lot of ways, people would use phrases like “toxic masculinity”, “the manosphere” and all those kinds of things when talking about Half Man. But I never set out to answer those questions or to understand them in a definitive way. I think masculinity is going through such a state of flux at the moment that it’s almost hard to pin down into something that’s easily explainable. I suppose that’s echoed in Half Man, in the fact that it leaves people to draw their own conclusions. Digging into it only confirmed for me that masculinity is a very complicated, multifaceted and, ultimately, moving thing that will continue to evolve for a long time. I don’t really have any clear conclusions on what toxic masculinity is—or even what masculinity is—other than that it’s incredibly complex and carries huge weight in society.Q. The violence in Half Man is deeply unsettling, both physically and emotionally. Was portraying it that way a conscious creative decision?Well, the show is about male violence. If you’re exploring real-life male violence—the kind that exists on our streets, in our homes and the kind we read about in the papers every day—you need to show that violence. Otherwise, you’re not really exploring it.If we’re talking about male violence and the damage it does to society as a whole, if you pull your punches, the power of the show won’t exist. People go through violence every single day that’s far worse than what happens in Half Man. You only have to open a newspaper to see that.Even with Ruben as a character, he’s built up as this almost mythological presence before we properly meet him. He’s been in juvenile detention, he’s bitten a bus driver’s nose off—he’s presented as one of the most terrifying men imaginable. Creatively, if you didn’t see the extent of what he was capable of, that mythology around him wouldn’t work. So, from both a creative and almost moral point of view, I thought it was important to show that violence. The violence in Half Man is real, but so is the violence people experience every single day across the world.Q. After the success of Baby Reindeer, did you feel pressure to live up to people’s expectations with Half Man?It’s interesting because I knew the expectation and pressure were there. But the thing about television is that it becomes such a pressure in itself. I’d agreed to do this project, I wanted to do this project, and I knew I had a very quick turnaround. So, yes, the expectation was there, and it was worrying and scary, but then television took over. That became the real pressure.I think some people have a big success and then become scared. They think, “What do I do next? I don’t want to take risks.” But I couldn’t have thrown myself into something quicker, and I’d do it again because I’m more interested in exploring, creating, taking risks and trying new things than I am in protecting my last piece of work.I finished Half Man about three weeks before episode one came out, and I almost forgot that expectation was there. Then, as the release got closer, I started to feel it again. But I can’t be governed by other people’s expectations. I always have to follow my own creative heart. Q. Did the success and awards for Baby Reindeer embolden you to take even bigger creative risks?It’s interesting—I always try my best not to be influenced by what’s happening around me. The awards were lovely, and I’m incredibly grateful for them. I loved those ceremonies, but I’ve never used them as motivation for what comes next. In fact, I think that’s dangerous.I never want to get into a situation where I believe my own mythology because something has been successful. If I’d sat back after Baby Reindeer and thought, “Maybe I should ride this wave,” or “Maybe I should make something similar,” that wouldn’t have been good artistic motivation. My creative heart was telling me to get back on the horse and make the next show, and that’s exactly what I did.Q. Do you think your years as a stand-up comedian have made you more comfortable taking creative risks?That’s an interesting theory. I was actually talking to somebody about this the other day. Comedy really toughens you for life. I’ve had the most amazing gigs where I felt completely in sync with an audience, and then I’ve had gigs where 20 or 30 minutes go by and you can genuinely feel people’s souls leaving their bodies.What that teaches you is about the highs and lows of life. There are times when you’re at your highest and feel completely in your power, and there are times when you’re at your lowest and think things are never going to end. You’re putting yourself out there in such a vulnerable way every single night. Once you’ve gone through that, you feel like you can handle a lot of what comes your way. It also helps you think on your feet, move in different directions and be spontaneous.Q. Baby Reindeer found a huge audience in India. Would you ever consider creating a project here? And what would you like to say to Indian viewers watching Half Man?I’m very grateful that India loved Baby Reindeer. That’s really wonderful to know. I’ve always wanted to visit India—I just want to say that right away. I’ve heard it’s an incredible place.I’d absolutely work on a project in India if it felt right creatively. I always have to be led by the story first. You hear stories about writers saying, “I want to make a show in a beautiful place, so let’s set it there,” but I’ve never worked like that. I would never write a story just because I wanted to visit a location. But if an idea naturally came to me and it was set in India, then absolutely, I’d love to do it. I always have to be led by the creative first.For Gadd, Half Man isn’t about prescribing answers but creating space for difficult conversations. The series is available in India on Lionsgate Play.- EndsPublished By: bhavna agarwalPublished On: Jul 26, 2026 11:11 IST