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Ricky Gervais on Extras' guest stars - Radio Times, September 2006 |
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Ricky Gervais gives the lowdown on his top-drawer co-stars in Extras.
On casting Extras' guest roles
"It's a slight chicken-and-egg situation. We have ideas for storylines with someone in mind, so we approach them with the idea before we get too far down the line. If we wrote the whole script and then they were unable to do the show for some reason, it would be a waste of time. We're lucky stars say "yes". They really get what we're doing . Some of them have been fans of The Office or Extras, so they trust us and trust that we have respect for everyone. I think that's very important in comedy."
On Daniel Radcliffe
"Daniel was great - very, very professional, and he completely got everything we wanted him to. The great thing about him is that he hasn't done anything much except Harry Potter, so you've got this megastar, who's been in some of the biggest films of the last ten years, but no-one really knows what he's like, so there are no expectations. It's like being given a blank canvas, so to speak, in that he hasn't done a lot of interviews. We can create our own "real Daniel" and that's very exciting."
On David Bowie
"I've been a huge fan of David Bowie for 25 years and he is a true genius. As a failed pop star myself, I really believe he puts the "art" into music. He's so original, yet when you meet him, he's so approachable and down to earth it's hard to believe it's the same man who was Starman. Writing a song with him was surreal; I was songwriting with Bowie. How amazing is that?"
On Sir Ian McKellen
"Some of the hardest scenes were with Sir Ian McKellen, purely because he's such a hugely respected thespian and he's working alongside a couple of chancers. Sir Ian McKellen is famous for never corpsing, but there we were, with a combined age of 100, spending most of the time giggling."
On Chris Martin
"Chris Martin is a very charming, pleasant man. He's a sensitive soul, but he's also very funny. People think they know what Chris Martin is like, so, of course, we played with that idea. I had dinner with Chris and he was telling me how he was going to play the part, saying "I'm going to do this [makes an expression and gesture] and I thought I might do that", so he really got into it, which was great."
On Orlando Bloom
"Orlando was a very happy and funny guy, although he did admit he was a bit nervous when we started filming. I think it was quite liberating for him to play a part completely opposite to the "sexiest male" image he has, because, although he's often in those Top Ten sexiest actors lists, he really is a serious actor, so I think that must be hard sometimes. We've made that character quite egotistical and vain which is the complete opposite to Orlando in reality."
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Read Ricky Gervais on series two - or take a look at our full Extras guide.
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