Before Ricky Gervais made a solid name for himself as a ruthless mocker, he tried his hand at music. In the early 1980s, as a twentieth-year-old, together with his friend Bill Macray, he wanted to break out in the new-wave duo Seona Dancing. Ricky sang, Bill played keyboards. And they actually succeeded in something.
“If I were a pop star, I’d be dead by now”
They may not have stolen the hearts of the British, but they have won the sympathy of teenage Filipino audiences. , young people were hungry for a calmer, more colorful world in those turbulent times – foreign music, of course, was the pass. Today it is not easy to imagine Ricky Gervais with a lush comb, eye makeup and fancy clothes, worthy of the era – and yet nearly 40 years ago this is how the young man armed himself to conquer the charts. “Now that I’m known for something else, people keep coming across these photos where I’m slim and young. It’s terrible, isn’t it? I had a clear jawline and lovely thick hair. All in all, I’m glad that [bycie gwiazdą popu] I didn’t work out. I would be dead now, Gervais later told one of the Philippine newspapers.
After his own stage episode, the Briton decided to go backstage and became the manager of the fledgling group Suede. – I helped them a little in the early years. When I said that I could not do it anymore, there were no tears, they did not plead – and then their career took off – recalled a would-be pop star a few years ago. He couldn’t take too long without the microphone. He returned to the stage to make his spoken word laugh as a standuper, and he also worked on the XFM radio. At one point, in the midst of a multitude of aerial and formal duties, he decided to look for an assistant. The first person to contact him was a certain Stephen Merchant.
Soon after, the gentlemen created the cult series “The Office”. Gervais gained experience in television before playing David Brent, the world’s worst boss. The year 1999 brought the comedian a lot of recognition thanks to the program “The 11 O’Clock Show”, in which his character cursed and insulted everyone around him as he flies. When writing the script for “The Office”, the creators did not care too much about political correctness.
David Brent, with the subtlety of an elephant, made absurd lines in the belief that his coworkers adored him. Receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis), salesman Tim (Martin Freeman) and the rest of the team felt the opposite when the incompetent boss tried to entertain them and made unrefined jokes about, for example, the LGBTQ + community, skin color or various disorders. Last summer, Gervais even told the BBC that today the show could be censored – but then he declared that he was joking because “people still watch The Office, so it would be pointless.” Quoted by the BBC, Simon Weaver, a university lecturer, agreed with Gervais’ amendment to his own words:
In “The Office”, the audience is encouraged to identify not with the restrained Brent, but with the characters of Dawn and Tim. On the other hand, the addressees of Brent’s ill-considered comments are never racist or sexist caricatures, but rather ordinary, intelligent people.
Despite the initial lack of enthusiasm among viewers, “The Office” became a hit with its second season. To this day, the series Gervais and Merchant is considered one of the best comedy productions in the history of British television. The interest in office adventures increased significantly due to the American adaptation, on which Gervais and Merchant worked as producers. They were also responsible for the script for the first season, which is completely different in character from the successive series of Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and the company.
For subsequent series, Gervais approved the episodes developed by overseas colleagues only formally. – It wasn’t my baby. I sold the rights, cashed checks. I think [“The Office US”] it was good, but I didn’t get emotionally attached to it … I didn’t see too many episodes … I don’t feel that it’s mine – said the creator of the production in an interview with “GQ”. Nevertheless, he accepted the offer to appear on the set in the States and played a scene with Steve Carell where Michael Scott accidentally meets … David Brent at the elevator. Sparks fly in seconds, and a strange twist of fate seems to be the first guest with Michael on the same wavelength.
“Fat little loser”
The success of “The Office” allowed the Gervais & Merchant duo to spread their wings. In 2005, “The Stats” appeared on the BBC air, a sitcom about Andy, an unemployed actor (played by Gervais himself), who tries to appear on the big screen, but usually ends up being a storyteller – engagements take away from him much more famous faces. We managed to persuade to appear in the series, among others Ian McKellen, Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Ross, Kate Winslet, and Orlando Bloom. In the second season, the main character is at one party with David Bowie, who, after a few sentences of conversation, gets a shot of inspiration and decides to improvise a special song in his honor. It goes something like this: “Little fat man who sold his soul … Little fat man who sold his dreams … Fat little loser …” (The words were actually written by, unfortunately, Gervais and Merchant) .
Gervais himself did not sell his dreams. His subsequent productions, “Derek”, “Life’s Too Short” and “Idiot Abroad”, enjoyed considerable popularity. When he was not preparing new series, he gave stand-up performances – several of which were released on DVD. On Netflix, for example, you can reach for the program “Humanity”, in which Gervais makes fun of celebrities, mortality and society taking everything personally. – Today, for some reason, stand-up is number one on my list. I could give up TV and film to only do stand-up. I realized what a privilege this was. Apart from the novel, it is actually the last bastion of self-censorship – people hear what you say, no one interferes with you – said the comedian in 2017.
Gervais’s mockery of celebrities has been the most notorious for Gervais in recent years. He was the host of the Golden Globes ceremony in 2010-2012; he returned to the local stage in 2016 and 2020. The last gala had an exceptionally wide publicity. In addition to the typical ad personam jokes, the host aimed at the so-called “woke Hollywood”, or “hot” celebrities who rush to act on many things when in reality are hypocritical. Gervais urged the victors to avoid political themes in their speeches:
If you win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform for making political speeches. You should not lecture the public on any topic. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So if you win, come over, accept your prize, thank the agents and your god and get the fuck off, okay?
Hollywood Gervais leaves no illusions about his own attachment to glitz. While he is a showman on stage, he leaves his private life in the shade. The extravagant Seon Dancing outfit was put on hold many years ago – it was replaced by a black T-shirt and jeans, which Gervais wears almost everywhere. – People usually think that wealth and fame change you. I don’t think that’s true, because at 40 you already know who you are. I do not think that a 40-year-old is as susceptible to change as a 20-year-old – said the actor recently in an interview with “Guardian”. The same “Guardian” from which he got bangs after his last Golden Globes.
Gervais is mistaken if he believes that the skepticism with which we plebeians view Hollywood is associated only with disgust at excesses. The point is that the daily news of scary drama and wild comedies beats Hollywood over the head and neck. A speech in which an actor would show that he is completely encased in his bubble would now be much worse than a speech in which he would admit that his bubble is safely resting in a burning building, in a burning city
. What does Gervais say? He asks if he is to please “200 billionaires in one room, or the 200 million people sitting in their pants and drinking beer who are not billionaires.” – For a comedian, it’s a matter of course. I am a jester. I play for others who are wading in the same swamp. I didn’t drive them terribly anyway. Think what else I could say – adds the comedian.
“Regret is like a heavy backpack. It doesn’t get lighter, but it is easier to carry.”
Through the prism of this sober, rather bitter gaze, Ricky Gervais shows a completely ordinary life in the series “After Life”. In the first season, which debuted on Netflix in 2019, we meet Tony, who plunges into despair after the death of his beloved wife – he seems to be the only person close to him in the world. A man working for a local newspaper is on the verge of killing himself. Before taking his own life, he is held back by the idea of getting revenge on everyone and everyone. As? Oh yes, it will do whatever it wants.
“My biggest concern was whether people would be able to go from laughing at something stupid to crying to something very real.” Looks like the answer is yes – – Until now, people have come up to me on the street with the slogan “I love your show”. Now I hear, “I just wanted to say I lost my sister three weeks ago.” Or “I lost my husband.” Nobody says, “Oh, I had to turn it off, it pissed me off too much.” Suddenly you realize that mourning is overtaking all of us. And the older you are, the greater the mourning.
Over time (despite attempts to convince himself that this is not the case) it turns out that Tony has many kind people around: a nurse from the retirement home where his father is staying; a widow with a similar sense of humor, whom he meets at the cemetery, or even the people he works with and whom he has generally tried to avoid. Does this awareness keep him from doing unreasonable things? Not at all. However, it seems that in season three – and the final one – Tony will decide to look for the coveted Zen in kindness. After the death of her father and in the face of a new romantic relationship, it will not be easy.
– Tony goes through the stages of regret, shock, anger, denial and then acceptance. I once listened to one therapist talking about regret. He said something like, “Regret is like a heavy backpack. It doesn’t get lighter, but you get better wear it over time.” From beginning to end, our hero tries to answer the question of whether if you lose everything, it’s still worth living. At the very end you will see something like an answer -.
The third season of “After Life” hit Netflix on January 14th.
Source: Gazeta
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
