{"id":474466,"date":"2026-05-08T08:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/474466\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T08:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:28:14","slug":"half-man-episode-3-julie-cullen-on-joanna-confronting-rubens-mum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/474466\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Half Man’ Episode 3: Julie Cullen on Joanna Confronting Ruben’s Mum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSPOILER ALERT:<\/strong>\u00a0This post contains spoilers from Episode 3 of \u201cHalf Man<\/a>,\u201d now streaming on\u00a0HBO Max<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHalf Man,\u201d the new drama from \u201cBaby Reindeer\u201d creator Richard Gadd<\/a>, has split viewers and critics alike thanks to its brutal depiction of misogyny, violence and toxic masculinity.<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing the story of two teenage boys \u2014 Niall and Ruben \u2014 whose mothers are in a romantic relationship, it is told primarily through their eyes<\/a>, with Mitchell Robertson, and later Jamie Bell<\/a>, playing younger and older Niall and Stuart Campbell, then Gadd, playing Ruben.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the second episode, Niall meets Joanna, one of his freshman flatmates at university, who, like almost everyone else in Ruben\u2019s orbit, is subjected to his extreme behavior. Played by newcomer Julie Cullen, Joanna\u2019s bubbly blonde naivete belies hidden depths, and she quickly proves herself to be a crucial voice in Niall\u2019s trajectory.<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of Episode 3, Variety spoke with Cullen to discuss Joanna\u2019s relationship with both Niall and Ruben and to break down that excruciatingly awkward dinner scene.<\/p>\n

\t\tJoanna is on the receiving end of Ruben\u2019s misogyny, if not his violence. When they first meet in Episode 2, he flirts with her, saying \u201cI just assumed you were the gorgeous one,\u201d before immediately calling her an \u201cugly bird\u201d in the next scene when speaking to Niall. What was it like as an actor to experience that?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think it\u2019s more of a comment on Ruben as a character, as opposed to anything else. I don\u2019t take that personally. That is a fictional character\u2019s opinion. It\u2019s not the opinion of the wider world.<\/p>\n

\n\tA lot of things that Ruben does to Joanna, and things he says, are quite grotesque. But that\u2019s not a reflection on her, that\u2019s a reflection of him.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of HBO<\/p>\n

\t\tLater, 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?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tOn 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, \u201cHey, how are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI 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.<\/p>\n

\t\tAt the beginning of Episode 3, Niall and Joanna are essentially in a relationship although he doesn\u2019t seem as keen as she does. Do you think on some level she knows about his sexuality?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI like to think that she\u2019s in a bit of denial about it, and is just maybe one of these people who just can\u2019t catch a break with guys. And then there\u2019s just Niall there, and he\u2019s nice, and he does the job, and he\u2019s lovely, and she just wants it. But I think she knows personally, and I think that\u2019s why, when it comes to that last scene for me, playing it, it\u2019s a sad scene. Him saying, \u201cAre we through?\u201d She\u2019s like, \u201cYeah, yeah, we are.\u201d I think she knew that a long time ago that he doesn\u2019t want to stay with her. She can see that, but it\u2019s just easier to play denial and be like, \u201cIt\u2019s fine. It\u2019s gonna work out.\u201d I think she\u2019s had a few tough times with men, maybe.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJulie Cullen <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of David Reiss<\/p>\n

\t\tThe dinner scene with Niall\u2019s mum, Lori (Neve McIntosh), and Ruben\u2019s mum, Maura (Marianne McIvor) \u2014 when Joanna confronts them over Ruben\u2019s behaviour \u2014 is both chilling and cathartic. How many takes did you get?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe 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\u2019s such a brilliantly written scene \u2014\u00a0but we were down to the wire, and on that day, I got one take for my close up of that scene.<\/p>\n

\t\tWere you on a set?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe were in someone\u2019s house. It was amazing how they did it. The upstairs of Niall\u2019s house was a set, and the actual dinner table was someone\u2019s home. So the hallway and into the kitchen area was someone\u2019s home, and then as you went up the stairs, then that was then at BBC Studios.<\/p>\n

\t\tGiven how awkward that scene is, did it help filming it in someone else\u2019s real home?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think the way Joanna conducts herself in that scene is very much trying to be on her best behavior, but she can\u2019t help but be like, \u201cWhat? This is wrong.\u201d But whether or not the actual being in someone else\u2019s home made me feel like that, I don\u2019t know, I don\u2019t think it did. I don\u2019t think it made me feel nervous. It doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re in someone else\u2019s home, because there\u2019s lights, there\u2019s everything, there\u2019s cameras, so I think there is a detachment there.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of HBO<\/p>\n

The tension between Joanna and Maura is brilliantly captured in that scene. Was it still there a bit when director Alexandra Brodski called cut?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI felt OK coming out of it, but Marianne is so brilliant in that scene I was honestly scared of her. I was literally like, \u201cI don\u2019t want to mess with you.\u201d And it\u2019s 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\u2019d like, \u201cNot yet, we\u2019ve not started!\u201d I was so fortunate to be with such brilliant actors that when cut happened, I didn\u2019t feel unsafe, I didn\u2019t feel tension. I was like, \u201cOK, I\u2019m with brilliant people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat do you remember about filming the scene with Niall outside, where Joanna is pushing for him to tell the truth in court?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was absolutely freezing. It was so cold! Glasgow is so cold in the winter.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat moment for Joanna, it\u2019s a bit of hopelessness almost. She\u2019s come and she\u2019s like, \u201cWhat is going on? You cannot do this, are you joking?\u201d 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, \u201cI need to know the bigger picture here. There\u2019s more at play.\u201d So she\u2019s smart. I think people see her as maybe \u201cwhatever,\u201d but she is smart because she then goes to see Alby and says, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d And we don\u2019t see that scene but that then brings her to be like, \u201cYou can\u2019t do this\u201d [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.<\/p>\n

\t\tJoanna 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?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tRichard 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 \u2014 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\u2019s 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPOILER ALERT:\u00a0This post contains spoilers from Episode 3 of \u201cHalf Man,\u201d now streaming on\u00a0HBO Max. \u201cHalf Man,\u201d the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,189867,9540,19,17,73338,133346,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-474466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-half-man","11":"tag-hbo","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-jamie-bell","15":"tag-richard-gadd","16":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}