‘Half Man’ Star Julie Cullen on Persuading Niall to Tell the Truth and Confronting Ruben’s Mum in That Awkward Dinner Scene: ‘I Was Honestly Scared of Her’

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from Episode 3 of “Half Man,” now streaming on HBO Max.

“Half Man,” the new drama from “Baby Reindeer” creator Richard Gadd, has split viewers and critics alike thanks to its brutal depiction of misogyny, violence and toxic masculinity.

Following the story of two teenage boys — Niall and Ruben — whose mothers are in a romantic relationship, it is told primarily through their eyes, with Mitchell Robertson, and later Jamie Bell, playing younger and older Niall and Stuart Campbell, then Gadd, playing Ruben.

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In the second episode, Niall meets Joanna, one of his freshman flatmates at university, who, like almost everyone else in Ruben’s orbit, is subjected to his extreme behavior. Played by newcomer Julie Cullen, Joanna’s bubbly blonde naivete belies hidden depths, and she quickly proves herself to be a crucial voice in Niall’s trajectory.

Ahead of Episode 3, Variety spoke with Cullen to discuss Joanna’s relationship with both Niall and Ruben and to break down that excruciatingly awkward dinner scene.

Joanna is on the receiving end of Ruben’s misogyny, if not his violence. When they first meet in Episode 2, he flirts with her, saying “I just assumed you were the gorgeous one,” before immediately calling her an “ugly bird” in the next scene when speaking to Niall. What was it like as an actor to experience that?

I think it’s more of a comment on Ruben as a character, as opposed to anything else. I don’t take that personally. That is a fictional character’s opinion. It’s not the opinion of the wider world.

A lot of things that Ruben does to Joanna, and things he says, are quite grotesque. But that’s not a reflection on her, that’s a reflection of him.

Later, she reveals Ruben also spat on her, in a scene that takes place off camera. As a woman, how difficult was it to play being on the receiving end of that kind of male violence?

On set we had a lot of people who were helping us through anything that we needed. We did need it. We had an amazing intimacy coordinator, Sharon MacKay, and she was great. We had this thing that she really wanted to instil in any scene that we did throughout the filming, just to check in with your scene partner after and just be like, “Hey, how are you?”

I think that was really brilliantly done from that side in production, making sure that we all felt safe. And you know, if we did have to speak about anything, we could. I think it was all dealt with really well.

At the beginning of Episode 3, Niall and Joanna are essentially in a relationship although he doesn’t seem as keen as she does. Do you think on some level she knows about his sexuality?

I like to think that she’s in a bit of denial about it, and is just maybe one of these people who just can’t catch a break with guys. And then there’s just Niall there, and he’s nice, and he does the job, and he’s lovely, and she just wants it. But I think she knows personally, and I think that’s why, when it comes to that last scene for me, playing it, it’s a sad scene. Him saying, “Are we through?” She’s like, “Yeah, yeah, we are.” I think she knew that a long time ago that he doesn’t want to stay with her. She can see that, but it’s just easier to play denial and be like, “It’s fine. It’s gonna work out.” I think she’s had a few tough times with men, maybe.

The dinner scene with Niall’s mum, Lori (Neve McIntosh), and Ruben’s mum, Maura (Marianne McIvor) — when Joanna confronts them over Ruben’s behaviour — is both chilling and cathartic. How many takes did you get?

We were down to the wire a little bit on that scene, which was great, because it forms sort of pressure, and there is that intensity with that scene. I mean, everyone had a different motive in that scene. Again, it’s such a brilliantly written scene — but we were down to the wire, and on that day, I got one take for my close up of that scene.

Were you on a set?

We were in someone’s house. It was amazing how they did it. The upstairs of Niall’s house was a set, and the actual dinner table was someone’s home. So the hallway and into the kitchen area was someone’s home, and then as you went up the stairs, then that was then at BBC Studios.

Given how awkward that scene is, did it help filming it in someone else’s real home?

I think the way Joanna conducts herself in that scene is very much trying to be on her best behavior, but she can’t help but be like, “What? This is wrong.” But whether or not the actual being in someone else’s home made me feel like that, I don’t know, I don’t think it did. I don’t think it made me feel nervous. It doesn’t feel like you’re in someone else’s home, because there’s lights, there’s everything, there’s cameras, so I think there is a detachment there.

The tension between Joanna and Maura is brilliantly captured in that scene. Was it still there a bit when director Alexandra Brodski called cut?

I felt OK coming out of it, but Marianne is so brilliant in that scene I was honestly scared of her. I was literally like, “I don’t want to mess with you.” And it’s when she puts that fork down and she just looks at me. We all got on so well on set. She would joke, and she would go into little bits before and be stern with me before, and I’d like, “Not yet, we’ve not started!” I was so fortunate to be with such brilliant actors that when cut happened, I didn’t feel unsafe, I didn’t feel tension. I was like, “OK, I’m with brilliant people.”

What do you remember about filming the scene with Niall outside, where Joanna is pushing for him to tell the truth in court?

It was absolutely freezing. It was so cold! Glasgow is so cold in the winter.

That moment for Joanna, it’s a bit of hopelessness almost. She’s come and she’s like, “What is going on? You cannot do this, are you joking?” And him then getting in the car with Ruben almost cements that denial that I was speaking about, and I think then is her impetus to go, “I need to know the bigger picture here. There’s more at play.” So she’s smart. I think people see her as maybe “whatever,” but she is smart because she then goes to see Alby and says, “What’s going on?” And we don’t see that scene but that then brings her to be like, “You can’t do this” [to Niall]. And I do take great pride in Joanna being the moral compass of Episodes 1, 2 and 3. I love that scene so much.

Joanna really is the Greek chorus of the first half of the season, in many ways. Did you speak to Richard Gadd about how he sees her role in the narrative?

Richard was very, very lovely to me about Joanna. He said it was one of his favorite characters to write. And I think maybe because it is the lightness of 1, 2 and 3 — she does give that bubbly energy and he really enjoyed writing her. He was very complimentary during filming, and really lovely about Joanna, and understanding of these two points that we have of her, of her really being a real focus of Niall’s life, really, and his trajectory, because had she not had that conversation with him, would he have told the right thing, would he have not? And if he had told the lie, what would have then happened? We don’t know that story, but I think it shows a real pivotal point and Richard really enjoyed writing her from what he said, and really enjoyed what I brought to the role.

This interview has been edited and condensed.