This is the true story behind ‘Bad Boy’, the new Netflix series you can’t miss if you liked ‘Adolescence’
The award-winning Israeli series ‘Bad Boy’ is premiered on the streaming platform Netflix earlier this month.
A TV drama whose depiction of troubled male youth has drawn comparisons with the Netflix hit Adolescence, the award-winning Israeli series Bad Boy is now available to watch on the streaming platform.
Co-created by Ron Leshem, the man behind the original Israeli version of HBO favorite Euphoria, Bad Boy is based on real-life events.
What is Bad Boy about? Series synopsis:
The Hebrew-language series tells the story of Dean Scheinman, who is imprisoned as a 13-year-old for dealing drugs. Two decades later, he remains haunted by the period he spent behind bars as a youngster.
Having changed his name to Daniel Chen in adulthood - and become a successful comedian - he “recounts how his wit kept him alive” during his incarceration in a brutal juvenile detention center, Netflix explains.
“Offering a gripping exploration of youth, redemption, brotherhood and friendship, the series follows Dean’s narrative from imprisonment to discovering his unique creative ability to heal deep wounds,” the series’ official synopsis says.
While the young Dean is portrayed by Guy Menaster, the actual Chen plays his adult self in Bad Boy, a show he created alongside Leshem and filmmaker Hagar Ben-Asher.
Bad Boy born out of prison meeting
As is noted by Kveller journalist Lior Zaltzman, the real-life Chen was - like his screen counterpart - raised by a struggling single mother, with no father on the scene. Zaltzman adds that Chen had a number of stints in Ofek Prison, just outside his native Tel Aviv.
Chen first met Leshem during his time in juvenile detention, when the latter spent two weeks in Ofek Prison for research purposes.
The pair then reconnected years later, at a time when Chen had not opened up about his turbulent past during his performances as a comedian.
However, Chen agreed with Leshem that, for the good of his career, he needed to start to “speak about the truth”, the latter told The Hollywood Reporter’s Tony Maglio.
“Thanks to you, I am the person I am today”
Having lifted the lid on his youth in Bad Boy, Chen also delved into the impact of his early-life experiences in a notable recent Instagram post, penning a message defined by Zaltzman as “half-jokey half-heartfelt”.
“Thank you to the Israeli police, who always pushed me to get more out of myself,” Chen wrote, beside a photograph of himself with his mother and his younger brother.
“Thank you to the Israeli prison service for providing me with structure and boundaries.
“Thank you to poverty for teaching me who my friends are, to the shame of hunger, to the beatings I received, to the heart that was broken, to the father who abandoned me, to my dear mother, who with all the best intentions led us straight to hell, I love you. Thank you to loneliness.
“Thank you to life for spoiling me with shit that turned into stories, that turned into jokes, that today we can laugh at and make a living from.
“Thanks to you, I am the person I am today. Suspicious, trauma-ridden. Single, with a dog. But funny.”
U.S. version of Bad Boy set to follow
An eight-part show that won seven Israeli Television Academy awards in April, including Best Drama, Bad Boy premiered on Netflix on May 2.
The streaming giant is currently developing an American remake of the series, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Watch the trailer for Bad Boy:
How much does a Netflix subscription cost in the U.S.?
Viewers in the United States can subscribe to Netflix’s ad-free standard plan for $17.99 a month, and to its ad-free premium plan for $24.99 a month. A standard plan with ads is also available, for $7.99 a month.
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