Ricky Gervais interview - Radio Times, February 2008

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Ricky Gervais interview - Radio Times, February 2008

Andrew Duncan discovers what the star of The Office and Extras thinks about fame - and his critics.

Ricky on…success

"I could never have dreamt of this success. I didn't look for fame and still don't, although I enjoy a higher standard of living. In the beginning I felt guilty about the money because I knew from my upbringing that being wealthy doesn't make you more deserving, and when people started calling me a 'genius', I said, 'So science lost another one to TV who could have cured Alzheimer's?' It's ridiculous."

"I wasn't after world domination. But even in an art form as lowly as TV comedy you want to connect with people. I hoped that The Office would be a million viewers' favourite show, not ten million's tenth favourite. I don't want to be a supermarket chain. I want to be Fabergé. Everyone I've admired has been an acquired taste - the Simpsons, Radiohead, David Bowie. Anything that captures everyone soon outstays its welcome."

…Extras

"It would be cowardly not to attack targets that affect us [Merchant and Gervais]. I don't buy into the idea that if you're part of a fraternity you shouldn't look in on yourself. Everything is up for satire. The point of comedy is to have an effect. People confuse laughing with having a sense of humour. Comedy isn't meant to make you guffaw; it's to make you think."

…society's obsession with celebrity

"I despise those who worry if they're not in the paper every day. I like acclaim, but why do some journalists go through dustbins, or hide and take pictures? If a builder hid in trees to photograph topless women in bedrooms, he'd be on the sex register. So why is it right for someone with a press card to take a picture of a girl without knickers falling out of a night club?"

"Why would I go to Africa and film myself crying? Some do charity and you never hear about them; others - like me - do it because we're caught up in it; and loads do it who have a gig to sell out, or a record to boost. I've seen acts on Comic Relief whose tour starts the following day. It's disgraceful - but I won't name them."

…his critics

"I was slagged off last summer [when he ad-libbed, some thought embarrassingly, at the Concert for Diana]. Critics said it was the end of my career, but it made no difference and I realised they couldn't harm me.

"Since then I've won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and sold a million more DVDs. I could have gone into my routine for Fame [his stand-up tour], but didn't want to because I'd sold 250,000 tickets at 40 quid each, and would cheat those who'd paid for the gig. I don't want anyone to think I'm a money grubber.

"I enjoy good reviews and winning awards, although I play the arrogance card when I accept because I'm sickened by those who do a seriously humble speech. They're really saying, 'You're right. I'm brilliant.' Don't believe your own hype. So I do a 'not ever-so-humble' speech and it upsets those who think I'm arrogant. On my tour I have a 'King of Comedy' sign in the background - and [critics] claim it isn't irony. Well, how is it not irony to think I'm king?"

"I didn't have to work again after The Office was remade for America. What can go wrong? They can't take my house away, or the awards [four Baftas, two Emmys and a Golden Globe]. If it all ends tomorrow, I'll run on Hampstead Heath, swim in my pool and polish my awards. When we're old and I've got the boxed set of The Office, Extras and the films I'm going to write, will anyone remember a five-minute stand-up?"

**

Now take a look at our full Extras guide.

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