When Big Boys first aired on Channel 4 in 2022, this hilarious and heart-warming take on the friendship between new roomies Jack and Danny portrayed the gay/straight bromance in a refreshing and relatable way that we hadn’t seen on the television in… well, ever. Ahead of season two hitting our screens in the new year, Attitude meets leads Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing, and writer Jack Rooke
Words Alastair James Photography Massimiliano Giorgeschi Creative and styling Joseph Kocharian
I'M NOT EVEN MINUTES into my conversation with Jack Rooke about the return of his hit series Big Boys — about a young man grieving the death of his father — when I find myself opening up to him about my own life.
Just days before our interview, I received the news that my grandpa, Dr Ronald Jones, had passed away after being taken to hospital with pneumonia just hours earlier. He was the man to whom I partially credit my love of theatre, and he was fiercely intelligent, wickedly funny and the paragon of a family man. The news didn’t really sink in until the next morning. I woke up and cried as I began to remember all the good times, the theatre trips, my grandpa’s filthy sense of humour, and all the times he took an interest in me and encouraged me. Those first few days were a whirlwind: mentally and emotionally exhausting. I cried. I laughed. At times, I felt completely lost and found even basic tasks hard to focus on.
I’m not normally one to share so openly and personally in an interview — after all, “it’s not about you” is a lesson drilled into most students at journalism school. But when speaking to Rooke about a show centred around dealing with — and moving on from — the loss of a paternal figure in a gay man’s life, my story seemed pertinent.
Much like series one, Big Boys’ sophomore season sees Jack (Dylan Llewellyn) continue to process his grief while also dealing with the trials and tribulations of being newly out and in his second year at Brent University. Beside him is the ever-faithful lad with a heart of the purest gold, Danny ( Jon Pointing) as well as the ever-iconic Corinne (Izuka Hoyle), Yemi (Olisa Odele), mum Peggy (Camille Coduri), cousin Shannon (Harriet Webb) and Nan (Annette Badland).
Set in 2014, the semi-autobiographical series takes the route of answering grief and pain with comedy. The night before my chat with Rooke, a video from Saturday Night Live appears on my TikTok feed of the American comedian Pete
