Ricky Gervais is an English comedian, writer, director and actor — also a former pop musician from the band ‘Reading, Berkshire.’  Gervais achieved mainstream fame on the BBC in The Office and Extras, both of which he co-wrote, co-directed and starred in.  Buzzine’s Emmanuel Itier sits down with the British funny-man to talk about his latest film, Ghost Town.

Emmanuel Itier: So Ricky, I understand that you only agreed to do Ghost Town on the condition that you didn’t have to kiss anybody.

Ricky Gervais: No. What I thought was the ending was this Hollywood thing. And I thought, “Well, that doesn’t solve anything.” I don’t like those schmaltzy endings where you think, Oh, they kiss, and then the rest of their life’s all right.” So I just thought it was better if you did it just slightly more subliminally, really. I did say “no nudity.” You don’t want to see this with a shirt off. No, we did work on the ending. And I thought I liked it more that it was a line, because one of my favorite films is The Apartment, and in that, she just says, “Shut up and deal.” That’s what I wanted. And we came up with: “It hurts when I smile.” “I can fix that.” And I thought that was a much nicer ending. I just think that, at last, for people to see that and go, “That’s different,” they wouldn’t even have noticed if you hadn’t said it. But I think they go in and they think, “There’s something slightly different about this film,” and that’s what I always want to do. I think it should be slightly different at least. Even for its own sake, it should be slightly different, because otherwise, just watch another film that probably does it better than you.

EI: Why did this character speak to you, that you wanted this to be your first lead in a movie?

RG: It looked like me on the page. When I first read it — and I read a lot of scripts and I turned them all down, mainly because I was busy — I felt this is the best script I’ve read in five years, and it was an interesting character. I laughed. This curmudgeonly awful, rich, successful, clever man, going around saying, “You’re all idiots,” appealed to me.  I’ve always liked those wisecrackers that sort of laughed in the face of adversity and it didn’t do them any good. That’s the important thing. They’re still the loser. Groucho Marx, Woody Allen, Bob Hope… They might be getting these things off their chest but they’re still losing, and I really like that and I like that about Pincus. It’s slightly more emotional than some of the broader comedies in the fact that it’s quite heartwarming. I felt a bit sorry for him as well, and that was important. There was a thing where we went back and we came up with him just making cocoa. It’s really sweet — his little pajamas are laid out. And he’s a man who wants order, but he’s missing out on something and he sort of knows it, deep down. That always appeals to me. Pathos and comedy-plus, I call it.

EI: I read somewhere you said you don’t see yourself as an actor. You want to direct and write. Did that change now?

RG: Well, there’s a reason for that. For me, the exciting thing is the idea. I love the creative process and I’ve never stopped knowing that’s why I like this. The acting thing I fell into because, with David Brent, it was my role, and I think I was the best person for the job. 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, and if I think that, I can’t go into a film thinking, “Well, someone else will be better for this.” My first lead in a film, I was offered after the first episode of The Office went out. A studio called me. They sent me the script and I said, “Who’s the lead?” They went, “You are.” I went, “Well who’s going to go and see that?” I said, “You want John Cusack.” And they went silent and thought, “Why is this nobody talking himself out of a film?” And it’s true. If you want someone to say the lines and stand in one place and do it well, every actor is better than me.

EI: But you also said “no” to smaller supporting roles, like Pirates of the Caribbean, if that rumor’s true.

RG: Yeah. Well, I was offered that, but I was busy and I just thought, I don’t want to sit in a Winnebago for six months to pop up as a comedy pirate. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but no one’s ever said, “He’s been in 19 films for two minutes. Let’s get him his own starring role and let him direct it.” It doesn’t happen like that. I get no joy out of seeing my fat face on the screen. I get joy out of the work. You get offered lovely things that would be fun, but I just think, “What’s the best that can happen?”

EI: Is that why you limit yourself to only doing two series of each of these shows?

RG: Well, yeah, but there’s a different reason for that as well, because of the intensity that we work at that — and we do everything, me and Steve. You know, we write, direct it, we sort of produce it. That no one’s even allowed in the edit. We hand over a finished product, and you can’t do that too long. It’s just too intense. You’ll run out of ideas. You’ll repeat yourself or the quality will go down. I started late. I’ve got so many ideas; I don’t want to die before I could do all these ideas.

EI: Just like in the film.

RG: Yeah.

EI: You said that when you read a script, there’s always a better actor who can stand in one place and say the lines. What is there not a better actor than you to do? What is it you feel you can do better than anyone?

RG: I think I can bring something else. I think that, because I’m a writer-director, I can sometimes see the bigger picture if they care. But I also think that the roles I’m going to and the people that want to hire me sort of know what I do. And let’s face it, there are much better people. I cut lines.

EI: There are Hollywood rules that you’ve set up?

RG: I just think that sometimes there’s lazy scriptwriting, or editing or direction. And I just think it’s as easy to get it right as get it wrong. If you’re there, you can just feel it. Like when we did The Office, we had a bigger list of don’ts than dos when we were writing The Office. We thought, “Right. Let’s talk how people talk.” For a start, exposition. People come into a room going, “Hi, Tom. You know your sister Sheila who went to the Gambia?” What, we forgot to put that in the script, did we? It’s sort of like let’s show, not tell. It’s just little things like that that stand out. I just think there’s enough poor television. It’s easy to do television. It’s easy to get something on the telly. I mean, if someone makes a bad TV show, they’re promoted because they made a TV show. And I think, “No, no, no! Let’s try and make good ones!” I don’t want to do things that are just fodder. I don’t want to fill half an hour, and I don’t want to do a film that’s just because you have the money or got a bit of lottery funding. You want everything to be special and timeless, and last and be fun.

EI: I take it there will be no more Extras.

RG: No. I don’t think so, no. At the beginning, I was saying, “Never say never,” like The Office. But I think we did it. I think we nailed it on the special and it’d be going back for a slightly less-wanted uncle. I just think we should leave it. It’s done. I’m really happy with that ending.

EI: Pretty sad, though.

RG: Well, you say that, but if I did another one, you’d probably wish I hadn’t. Everyone thinks they want a third series — always lets you down.

EI: Ricky, may I ask, did you get a reaction from the British Prime Minister from your letter? I read that you wrote a letter.

RG: No, I haven’t yet. Oh, I forgot to put it in a stamped, addressed envelope. I just said, “Can we stop killing bears to make hats for guards at Buckingham Palace?” It just seems a little bit over the top — it takes a whole bear to make a hat.

EI: You’re kidding!

RG: Yeah, it’s Canadian black bears. They get one hide. They shoot a bear. Sometimes they orphan them.

EI: As a suggestion, what would they do for their hats?

RG: Synthetic. They’re ceremonial, for Christ’s sake. Who’s at the gates of Buckingham Palace going, “That fur looks a bit off. I want my money back. Who’s the twat in the useless hat? I’m off.”

EI: Especially in England, you’re a star. How do people treat you on the street?

RG: I was a little bit phobic because it’s weird to be famous, and it’s worse on your doorstep as well. So it gave me the creeps a little bit for a while, but now I’ve got a big house with a big gate and shutters.

EI: How do you deal with the fame?

RG: I’m getting a bit better at it, but I try to ignore it. I try to live a normal life. But you can’t because I don’t want to be out, and I don’t go out to parties. The fame, for me, has never been the best bit. It’s always been the worst bit. Everything about this is better than being recognized, genuinely. The work’s great. The money’s good. I love nice reviews, I love the awards. I love jumping queues at the airport. But it feels weird. It’s not natural, it’s not right. And I knew when I went into it that it was an upshot of what I did. If you’re a successful actor, you’re a famous person. But I just want people to know that — why you do it. I remember one of the first interviews I did — I was very prickly about the whole subject. “And I don’t want to be lumped in with people who just do anything to be famous. I know there’s a difference between Robert DeNiro and a Big Brother winner, and I want to firmly be in that first camp — someone who’s doing a trade and wants to be successful in it.” And this journalist said, “So what would you give advice to anyone else who wants to be famous?” And I went, “I’d tell them to go out and kill a prostitute.” Yeah, it didn’t go down well then either.

EI: Especially if they killed a prostitute.

RG: Exactly, yeah. “Ricky told me. Jesus and Ricky told me.”

EI: Are you finding that, with This Side of the Truth, is it like a cocktail party? You’re directing that film, obviously, aren’t you?

RG: Yeah, I slipped into it pretty well because I know what I’m doing. Again, it’s a comedy-plus idea, and I know what I want. 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. It’s keeping an eye on the idea. And if you’re there, as I say, it’s as easy to get it right as get it wrong.

EI: How’s that going?

RG: It’s great. We’re halfway through it and we’re in the middle of a dub and putting the music on. Again, the thing that I’m proudest about is it’s slightly different. There’s not a film quite like it, and I don’t think there’s a film like this around at the moment. You go back to the ’40s and you’ll find things a bit like it. Of course, there are lots of more modern sensibilities in there. The humor’s changed a little bit. It’s a bit spikier than something Jimmy Stewart would have done, but it’s nice to play against type. It’s nice to be an antidote to things. This isn’t a film aimed at 12-year-old boys who like smut. It’s a grown-up comedy.

EI: Would you return to television?

RG: Yes, of course. What have you got? [Laughs] No, I would. I haven’t left television behind. It’s just a coincidence that I did all those things in a row. All those things — two and then there are sort of three films in a row that I’m doing. But that’s a coincidence, really. But no, I certainly haven’t left television behind. I just don’t have any time at the moment.

EI: What about The Office for the big screen?Possibly? Or never ever.

RG: Never. They want us to do a live show of it. Bizarre! A fake doc — a fake documentary, now, at the theatre. No, I won’t do it. I think there’s a German one they’re making.

EI: Are you surprised the American version of The Office has become as huge as it is?

RG: Well, yes because any remake died, the last 30 years. Every remake has fallen by the wayside, either before it got to production or taken off on the third episode. But I’m not surprised that America gets it because…two reasons: The Office isn’t as quintessentially English as you first might think. It’s about universal subjects. It’s about wasting your life. It’s quite existential — a bad boss, boy meets girl…and also, all my influences are American — everything I’ve ever loved, from Laurel and Hardy, The Simpsons, Woody Allen, Marx Brothers, through sitcom — through things like Taxi, Cheers, M*A*S*H, right up to the present day with great stuff like Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm… All my influences have been American. So I’m not surprised, in that sense. But I’m surprised how successful the English version was. I mean, it’s ridiculous. You’d never have dreamt it. But it was sort of there. The seed of the idea is there for the taking because, I say, it’s an everyman sort of concept.