october-2009

072
COVER STORY
There are millions of aspiring
comedic actors in the world, but
very few become household names.
And triple-threats who can also write and direct with equal aplomb? They’re even harder to
find. Which may explain why Ricky Gervais is in such high demand, with talents like Tina
Fey, Jonah Hill and Ralph Fiennes lining up to work with the 48-year-old Brit.
A major celebrity in his native England for years, Gervais appeared on the American pop
culture radar in 2005, when his cult BBC hit “The Office” was adapted into an NBC sitcom.
(Gervais’ David Brent inspired Steve Carell’s character, a bumbling regional manager of a small
paper distribution company.) That same year, Gervais debuted a new HBO series, “Extras,” in
which he played an extra who eventually catches his big break on a network sitcom. Despite
only running 13 episodes, the series attracted A-list actors like Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller, garnering
eight Emmy nods (including a Best Actor win for Gervais) in the process. In both shows,
the former DJ-turned-comedy genius not only wrote and directed (with his longtime creative
partner, Stephen Merchant), but also starred as a socially inept oaf whose idiotic antics inspired
embarrassment and empathy in equal measure, brilliantly mining discomfort for laughs.
After supporting roles in For Your Consideration and Night At The Museum, and his
debut as a leading man in last year’s Ghost Town, his writing/directing skills are being put to
the test for the first time on the big screen with this month’s The Invention of Lying. Packed
with top-notch actors (like the aforementioned Fey and Hill), the film is a mature comedy
in which the Reading native stars as a writer who suddenly discovers the ability to lie—and
uses it for personal gain—in a world where everyone tells the truth.
With self-generated projects such as Cemetery Junction (a 1970s-set comedy about men
working at an insurance company, starring Fiennes) and Flanimals (set to be released in 2011,
with Steve Carell) in various stages of production, the stakes are obviously high. And one
thing Gervais has learned in the process is that he relishes calling all the shots.
GO MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2009
T
Now that The Invention of Lying—the
first film you’ve nurtured from creative
conception to completion—is done, how
do you feel about it? Was it hard being
behind the camera instead of in front
of it? “No, I slipped into it pretty well. If
somebody asked me to direct The Matrix,
I wouldn’t know where to start. I’d be in
real trouble. But I know where I am with
this ‘comedy-plus,’ as I call it. [The film] is
great. There’s not another comedy quite like
it at the moment. It’s a grown-up comedy.”
Do you like having creative control?
“Being in charge is where I’m most
comfortable, but I don’t think of it as
control as much as artistic freedom. If I’m
going to be on the set from 7am to 7pm
every day, I might as well do it all and get
paid three times, you know what I mean?
Being hired as one of the leads is very nice
and flattering, but it’s not like I’m pursuing
it. I never thought of myself as an actor,
and, let’s face it, I’m not a great actor. The
creative process is what excites me. Seeing
a film you’re in is fun. Awards are fun.
Money is nice. But nothing is more fun
than Steve Merchant and me sitting in a
room, laughing about what we just said.
Nothing else comes close.”
You honestly don’t think you’re a good
actor? “I fell into the acting thing because,
with David Brent, I was the best person for
the job. But mostly, I’m not. If I got offered
100 films, 90 of them would be arbitrary,
and I’d know there were better people
than me. I was offered a film after the first
episode of ‘The Office’ went out. A studio
sent me the script and I said, ‘Who’s the
lead?’ They went, ‘You are.’ I said, ‘Who’s
gonna go and see that?! You want John
Cusack.’ They must have thought, ‘Why is
this nobody talking himself out of a film?’
But every other actor is better than me.”
So it’s safe to assume that you really did
turn down a supporting role in Pirates
of the Caribbean? “Yeah, I was offered
that, but I was busy. I don’t want to sit in
a Winnebago for six months, then pop up
as a comedy pirate. There’s nothing wrong
with that, but no one’s ever said, ‘He’s been
in 19 films for two minutes each. Let’s get
him his own starring role and let him direct
it!’ It doesn’t happen like that. And I get no