Richard Gadd is opening up about his new HBO series Half Man.

The 36-year-old Emmy winner stars in, created, wrote, and executive produced the new show, which also stars Jamie Bell.

For the role of the short-fused Ruben, Richard underwent an entire physical transformation, which included bulking up, changing his hair, and growing out his beard.

Keep reading to find out more…“I knew I needed to change everything about myself,” Richard explained on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I knew, in a way, I had to do the exact opposite of Donny Dunn [his Baby Reindeer character].”

“In order for people to buy this, I needed to change physically, hair, beard, voice, everything I knew in order to do Ruben,” he continued. “I needed to almost become unrecognizable.”

Half Man is described as about two brothers “not related in blood but the closest you can get. One, fierce and loyal. The other, meek and mild-mannered.” While Richard plays Ruben as an adult, Stuart Campbell plays the younger version of the character.

Also in the interview, Richard admitted that he was reluctant to play Ruben at first, especially since the character is so different from who he is and who he played in Baby Reindeer.

“I remember after Baby Reindeer, being in every single scene and everything, I just remember thinking, ‘I need to take one of these things off my plate, so acting felt like the thing that I could take off,’” he said, before revealing that it was Jamie who suggested he play Ruben.

“At that point I had started to be like, ‘Oh, that would be interesting.’ And then around that time, HBO also said it on a call,” Richard recalled. “Even just from marketing point of view, me being in it sort of helped the show. I remember going home and it really rattled me. Because it was so out from my comfort zone. And so far from who I was. I had this existential sort of evening of thinking whether I should do it. Will I regret it if I say no?”

New episodes of Half Man are released on HBO and HBO Max on Thursdays at 9pm ET. Watch the trailer here!