Advertisement

Ricky Gervais: The King of comedy

Ricky Gervais: The King of comedy

Comedy may have been what made Ricky Gervais rich, but he will forever be a working class man.

In an exclusive interview with Sunday Night, creator of The Office and star of new movie Muppets Most Wanted, Ricky Gervais opens up about his family life growing up.

"My dad was a labourer, I grew up in a very poor council estate just outside London,” he said.

"My mum was a housewife, my next brother is like 11 years older than me, then 13 years older, 14 years older than me, and I remember saying to my mum, ‘why are my brothers and sisters so much older than me?’

"And she went, ‘because you was a mistake’. I went, 'right', laughed and said 'cheers'.”

BLOG: Rahni Sadler on meeting Ricky Gervais

Gervais got his big Hollywood break with The Office, which drew international audiences almost overnight.

"The Office was the first thing that I ever tried my hardest at," he said.

"I was addicted to that pursuit of excellence, and I had an amazing time and I got amazing results and it was fantastic. And then the first cheque came through and it sort of ruined it a little bit, because I thought, ‘oh, that is not why I did it’.”

A self-confessed atheist and believer in 'the truth' – "I don’t know why anyone can get offended because it doesn’t change it" – Gervais divides audiences the world over with his dry humour and hot topics.

But they still follow him on social media, adding up to about 50 million followers across Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and podcast channel.

"I said, ‘let’s invade a country!’" he said.

Which one?

"Switzerland. See their knives? Pathetic. Look out he has got some tweezers. I reckon we could take Switzerland with my Facebook followers alone."



Despite having modest working-class British roots, Gervais is half French, and is not afraid to make fun of his heritage.

"I can have a go at the French because I am half French half English and I have got qualities of both – so I am crap in bed, but at least I have got bad breath," he said.

In fact, he is not afraid of anything if it means getting a good laugh out of an audience.

"I think a comedian’s job is to fall over for our amusement – I don’t really care why people are laughing, as long as they are – or not even laugh, but get a reaction. I cherish the gasps as much as the laughs,” he said.

Now a seasoned Hollywood actor and comedian, Gervais admits he has always lived by the same mantra.

"It is a Bob Dylan quote – he says ‘A man can consider himself a success if he wakes up in the morning goes to sleep at night and in between, did exactly what he wanted’, and I have always done that.”