Jane is my soulmate.. losing her would be the worst thing ever
What Ricky Gervais fears most is ending up like the main character in his sitcom After Life – bereaved and alone after the death of his life partner.
The comic, who stars as journalist Tony Johnson on the Netflix show, even based Johnson’s relationship on the love he shares with novelist Jane Fallon.
The pair have been together since 1982 after meeting at University College London. They shared a flat above a brothel in King’s Cross and for many years had a modest lifestyle before both became successful in their 40s.
After Life is a heart-warming depiction of a widower struggling with mental health after losing his wife to cancer.
The show has won legions of fans for its sentimental portrayal of Tony’s marriage, shown in flashback through home video clips as the couple laugh and play practical jokes on each other. Ricky, 60, said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been lonely. I don’t think I’ve ever suffered from depression or despair like Tony.
“I’ve seen it... I’ve lost both parents and a sibling, all my pets and some friends.”
But he added of Jane, 61: “The ultimate for me would be losing my soulmate.
“That’s the worst thing that could happen to me. So it’s an imagination, a fiction, that stems from that.”
Given the subject matter of After Life, one can’t help wondering whether Gervais thinks about death constantly.
Speaking on Zoom from his London home, the shelves behind him loaded with awards, he says he believes in living life to the full instead of obsessing about what happens afterwards.
But the comic does admit to being a bit of a hypochondriac.
He said: “I’m not the sort of person that goes around going, ‘I think I’m going to die one day’. All I know is that I want to die well. I am pro quality of life, I’m
very pro assisted dying. But death is what it is. It’s the circle of life.
“For 13 and a half billion years we don’t exist, then we have about 80 years, then we die, never to exist again. That’s it.
“The only thing you can do is make your 80 or 90 years – if you’re lucky – the very best they can be. I don’t think that much about death.
“Having said that, if I wake up and I’ve got a lump, I say to Jane, ‘That’s cancer.’
“She’ll go, ‘No, it isn’t. Don’t you remember you hit yourself with a broom?’ Or I’ll go, ‘Oh, my heart rate’s up.’
“She’ll go, ‘You’ve just had three cups of coffee and ran up the stairs’.”
Now on its third series, After Life has been watched by 100 million people worldwide, according to Netflix.
At the start, viewers saw Tony contemplate suicide – before realising he couldn’t leave his beloved dog Brandy behind. For animal lover Gervais, who regularly campaigns on animal welfare issues, that is a vital part of the story.
He said: “I made the dog as important as anything on the planet. That dog metaphorically and literally saved Tony’s life. And they do.
“I’ve met lots of people who got a dog after their partner died, or their kids
got them a dog... and it changed them.
“They were happy again, you know? A pet is a member of the family. We put down our cat in March, and I was devastated. So I can’t imagine a dog dying.
“It’s the only spoiler I do – the dog does not die!”
Born into a workingclass home in Reading, Berks, Gervais took a while to hit the big time.
He had various jobs including office manager
– the inspiration for his first hit TV series, The Office. He even had a stab at pop, releasing two singles in new wave pop duo Seona Dancing.
There was, even more strangely, a brief spell as a manager for band Suede before they hit the big time.
In the 2000s Gervais won comedy
slots on The 11 O’Clock Show, but it wasn’t until he turned 40 in 2001 that he finally achieved proper success.
With Stephen Merchant, he wrote The Office, starring Ricky as cringeinducing boss David Brent.
Since then he has had TV hits with Extras, Derek, and Life’s Too Short.
He has made films including Cemetery Junction and The Invention of Lying.
And his stand-up tours such as Animals and Humanity – the latter signed by Netflix as part of a rumoured $40million deal – have been sell-out hits. As a performer he projects a brash persona and has been a divisive figure but I ask whether After Life made people see him in a new light. He says:
“You’re bits of everything you do. I’m in every character I do.
“Some people think that I’m harsh and uncaring, and other people think I’m soppy and only care about animals.
“Actually the thing that people say most to me now is, ‘Thanks for everything you do for animals’. I’m probably more famous for liking animals than any one role I’ve done.”
After Life has always been about the importance of small kindnesses – so it’s no surprise when Gervais sums up what he believes is the meaning of life.
He says: “Make your life the best you can possibly imagine. That’s all you can do, it’s the point of living.
“To me, making the best of it is ‘Be as happy as you can be without hurting anyone else’.
“That’s it. Oh – and get a dog.”
After Life season 3 launches on Netflix globally on Friday.
Some people think I’m uncaring.. others think I’m soppy
RICKY GERVAIS ON HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE HIM