|
|
 |
Katherine Parkinson interview - 25 September 2007 |
|
|
|
William Gallagher asks the actress what it's like having to be funny and also play the straight guy to her IT Crowd colleagues.
"I'm pleased you say that, because - this is horrible but true - in any comedy you've got to have the feed," says Katherine Parkinson, "but you've also got to have a comic energy or it's just not as entertaining."
It's this balance between having her own funny lines and being the set-up for her colleagues that she says makes the work harder. "The IT Crowd is supposed to be about two fools and a fool who doesn't think she's a fool. It's a different skill and oddly the hardest thing for me has been playing the sensible one.
"I'm grateful because it's making me work for it. Creator Graham Linehan is very conscientious about writing for women. He's said to me in the past that he doesn't like shows where the girls are saying, 'Oh, what are you like?' and are just reacting, so I think I'll always have material to work with."
|
|
|
|
Co-stars Chris O'Dowd and Richard Ayoade have the advantage that they are really playing Graham Linehan himself.
"Graham said to me very honestly that the two male characters are both younger versions of himself and that obviously my character was not. So if I can think of anything, I should tell him. He's writing from his point of view and I think it's very easy for actresses to complain that there aren't as many rounded parts for them in comedies, but that's unfair. You're supposed to write from what you know so it's my job to come to the table to make it work."
Like Linehan's previous hit, Father Ted, The IT Crowd was not an immediate success. "Graham said that too, that it was only really on repeats when it started to do well. Our problem in the first series was that perhaps it was overly advertised, with the best will in the world, but also we had certain names attached to it.
"Graham Linehan, Christopher Morris, they come from very different types of comedy and people assumed this would be a mix of those, or a vérité style like The Office. But it absolutely wasn't. You've got to accept it for what it is, there's no point sitting down waiting for something like The Office.
"But now we've established what we are - and also it takes a while for you to work out what kind of show you're making. But we're more comfortable now with what we're doing."
Channel 4 is expected to commission a third series of the show but it hasn't happened yet. In the meantime, Parkinson continues in her regular role in Doc Martin - and is soon to appear on Broadway. Plus she's just completed filming an ITV1 comedy drama, Christmas at the Riviera - "it's set in Eastbourne" - and is preparing to co-write a BBC Radio 4 comedy.
**
Now take a look at our full guide to The IT Crowd.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Advertiser link |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| EMAIL A FRIEND |
|
| Want to share this page with a friend? It's quick and easy! |
| Email a friend |
|
|
|
|
|
