5 MINUTES WITH...

STEVE COOGAN

In Chivalry, a new

Channel 4 comedydrama written by and starring Alan Partridge actor Steve Coogan, and Him & Her star Sarah Solemani, 39, the comedic duo tackle the question of romance and working relationships in post-#MeToo Hollywood.

Coogan plays Cameron, an old-school Hollywood movie producer at the top of the power pyramid. He has to work with Solemani’s Bobby, an up-and-coming feminist director, to re-cut a movie that’s been derailed by a #MeToo scandal. We catch up with the stars.

#METOO IS SUCH A COMPLICATED TOPIC TO COVER

SC: The big thing for me, the premise of the whole series, was how does romance thrive in a post#MeToo environment? Let’s tell a story about two people who are in the midst of this new landscape, who fall in love with each other whilst negotiating these things. Maybe then the question will answer itself.

SS: One of the biggest debates that came out of #MeToo was a concern that it was somehow going to be the death of sex. In the show, this is why Bobby talks so explicitly about sex.

When you have proper conversations about consent, you’re actually opening up opportunity for more sex and more pleasure because it’s a proper dialogue where women’s needs and women’s pleasure is taken into consideration.

WHAT DOES COMEDY AND HUMOUR ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT PURE DRAMA DOESN’T?

SC:

In terms of the comedy, we were very careful about it. Once you know how you can find these comedic moments, when you become confident with it, it’s knowing when not to do a joke, not to employ comedy when you know you could. To have the guts to be sincere sometimes, which is not an intuitive thing, certainly for me!

SS: It makes it harder, because you have to do both! You have to keep it suspenseful but you’ve got to find the humour and give the audience permission to relax.

#MeToo is a universal confession of trauma and pain, and we don’t want to undermine that. We wanted to shine a light on that, and at the same time let some of the tension out.

Marta, our director, was really good in reminding us of not being scared to go to some of the darker areas, and then Steve is always so kind of ruthless when it came to the comedy, it had to be the funniest moment we could possibly invent.

YOU BOTH LIVE IN THIS WORLD, BUT WHAT DID YOU DO IN TERMS OF RESEARCH AND PREPARATION? SC:

We do live in this world, so we’re aware of what’s going on in terms of the media and discussions and new protocols, we’re aware of all that. Being in the industry means it’s not a huge leap to put yourself in a slightly different place, it was just taking things that you sometimes feel and amplifying them, adding some extra things to make it complex and provocative.

SS: It’s less about research, but more about exploration of our journeys, because Steve and I have had such different journeys and different challenges.

Chivalry airs on Channel 4 at 10pm on Thursday