Ricky Gervais: ‘We’re all messed up – and that’s OK’
Ricky Gervais is on philosophical form as he talks about the return of his funny, heartbreaking show AfterLife, and how we all have our secret struggles…
Ricky Gervais’ dark, brutally honest Netflix comedy AfterLife, is back for season two
– and yes, be prepared to laugh and cry in equal measure. Actor and comedian Ricky, 58, whose partner is author Jane Fallon, 59, plays grieving newspaper journalist Tony, who’s desperately trying to cope since his wife, Lisa, died of breast cancer –basically by saying or doing whatever he likes, and to hell with the consequences. But Ricky –who’s not exactly someone to keep strong opinions to himself – says his character is slowly finding a way to start living again. Here, the funny, passionate animal activist talks life, death and dogs…
Was trying to live up to the success of the first season of After Life hard?
The success wasn’t the only hard bit, you want to sustain it! The first season was really establishing the central character and what it’s all
about, then Tony bumping into random people in this sunny, idyllic little village. In this season, they interact. I think people like that After Life doesn’t back off on the big, taboo subjects – mental health, grief, illness, suicide.
It’s touched a lot of people, dealing with their own grief…
It’s been amazing. You get the odd letter, but with After Life, my agent got 300. Tweets, hundreds, still come in every day. People used to come up to me in the street and go ‘I loved The Office!’ Now, they come up and say quietly, ‘I lost my wife... your show really helped.’ I’ve always said, no harm can come from discussing taboo subjects.
Some scenes are heartbreaking. Do you get upset filming them?
Yeah, I can only do one take on the really sad scenes. Because I do cry, it’s real… and then once I’ve cried, I feel better. So, I can’t do a take two, and have a fake tear pop out of a tear duct! Personally, I’d want to die first. But that’s selfish. Anne, Tony’s friend in the graveyard, says she’d rather live missing her husband, than have him live missing
her. And that’s so beautiful, so selfless. I’d hate to make a bold statement that women can cope better but... they can!
Your character, Tony, loves a home video! Did it make you want to capture more everyday moments?
My sister’s got like, five family photo albums, and there’s probably 20 pictures of me, growing up. There are 20 photos of me in the bath, today! Or they’re snaps of my Siamese cat, Ollie. But no, I like to live in the moment.
Tony’s dad, who has dementia, is looked after by a nurse (Ashley Jensen) Tony’s clearly attracted to. How does that pan out?
That whole storyline is pretty key to season two. If season one was ‘Hell is other people’, this season is ‘Hope is everything’. It’s not easy for him, but yes, there is hope.
Has this show changed how you feel about life?
Well, I’ve asked myself the big questions since I was a kid. I’ve been an atheist since the age of eight – I don’t think there’s an afterlife, so I do ask, ‘what’s the point?’ But I’m not ‘down’ on life, either. I think of life as a holiday. We don’t exist for billions of years, then we have this amazing, one-ina-zillion chance to be us for 80, 90 years – try everything, enjoy it all, then go back to not existing. That’s amazing. You’ve got to make the most out of this life, we all do. I’ve also learned that everyone has problems. There’s a line in the first season, when my brother-in-law says to me, ‘The next time you get a waitress fired because your soup’s cold, just know that she might have found out that her mum’s got cancer.’ Everyone has problems.
And we’re all muddling through, making mistakes…
That’s exactly it… we’re all messed up, and that’s fine. As long as you hold onto kindness and hope. Oh, and dogs. They can save your life. I love dogs. People underestimate actually how important that relationship is. They’re magical. I chose Tony’s dog, Brandy, in the show. I said to the trainer, ‘I just want a dog. No tricks, this isn’t Lassie, this isn’t Disney. Just a dog.’ But dogs are bloody brilliant!
l After Life season 2 is on Netflix from 24 April.
‘I can only do one take on sad scenes. I cry, it’s real, so I can’t fake it again’