US drama role is seriously funny, says TV's David Brent
Ricky Gervais had TV viewers in stitches on both sides of the Atlantic with The Office, and Hollywood giggling when he accepted Golden Globe honours as casually as if he was doing the shopping.
But on the set of the US TV series Alias, it was Gervais having a laugh at the oh-so-serious, big-budget spy drama production.
Gervais, who played David Brent in The Office, guest stars as a bad-guy bomb expert in Sunday’s episode, airing in the US on the ABC network.
“It’s so like the opposite to The Office. It’s 2 million an episode as opposed to 200,000 an episode. There’s special effects, there’s stunts,” he said.
“All that pressure, it’s like being in school when you can’t laugh in assembly. It’s all so expensive and all so important that I think it’s the child in me.”
The result: “I was laughing at all the serious faces. Every time they looked at me in a serious way, I died laughing,” he said of the cast that includes Jennifer Garner and Victor Garber.
The unlikely scenario was the result of Alias creator JJ Abrams’ admiration for The Office. Abrams contacted him and sent tapes to Gervais in London, who liked what he saw and agreed to appear.
“It’s the first thing I’ve done that I didn’t write myself, so it was sort of a baptism of fire,” he said of his role as bomb pro Daniel Ryan. As befitting an espionage series, further details were withheld by Gervais and ABC.
There were long hours, the nuisance of hitting marks for precise camera shots and 12-hour days with maybe two hours of filming. With The Office, the schedule was kept to a more civilised eight or 10 hours, with nearly all of that spent acting.
The BBC sitcom, shown on BBC America, and being adapted for the NBC broadcast network, is a ”mockumentary” about a sales team for a paper supply company and smug middle-manager Brent.
Gervais co-wrote the series, directed it and brought Brent to gratingly funny life. A hit in Britain and a cult favourite in the US, The Office was a surprise winner at the Golden Globes, claiming the best comedy series award over nominees including Sex And The City.
Gervais was approached about being part of the American version of the series, but speedily declined.
“I worked in an office for eight years and that is based on true-life observations,” he said of The Office humour. “I know how the English office ticks, how the people think. I don’t know the same for America.”
But passing up a chance to star in an American sitcom was different.
“It’s the work that excites me. I’ve never particularly cared about the money. I don’t like the fame ... that’s the worst thing about it for me. I don’t like being recognised shopping for pants.”
