Meet the riveting young actors who brought 'Half Man's' dangerous brother act to life

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Richard Gadd’s new series, “Half Man,” continues the creator’s knack for finding extraordinary talent.Then, it was “Baby Reindeer’s” Jessica Gunning.

Now, it’s young Scottish actors Stuart Campbell and Mitchell Robertson.As Niall and Ruben, stepbrothers locked in a toxic relationship over the course of 30 years, Robertson (played by Jamie Bell as an adult) and Campbell (Gadd as an adult) bring the series’ explosive depiction of modern masculinity to life as exquisitely as their older counterparts.In part, perhaps, because the young Scottish actors are as much a study in contrasts as the characters they play.Campbell started performing as a teenager to make friends; Robertson did so after the “lightbulb moment” of seeing fellow Scot David Tennant in “Doctor Who.” Campbell is a keen botanist and has a diploma from the Royal Horticultural Society; Robertson has started learning how to mend clothes and is an avid music video fan.

Robertson’s comfort show is the UK version of “The Office”; Campbell loves “Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild,” a travel docuseries about people who, as he describes it, “escape the rat race and move to remote places.”The pair’s bond began long before their first meeting, through the shared experience of “Half Man’s” extensive audition process.Gadd’s smash hit “Baby Reindeer” hadn’t premiered when the nine-month, five-round search for young Niall and Ruben started, with the success of Gadd’s Emmy-winning Netflix series contributing to various postponements on “Half Man.” After a few callbacks, things started to feel possible for Campbell and Robertson.

Until they didn’t.“In April 2024, I was told, ‘You just need to let it go, because it’s not yours,’” remembers Campbell.He was devastated.

“I really did want to be part of this more than anything I’d ever done.” Robertson got a s...