Ricky Gervais Raises His Game With A Few Lies - page 2

03 October 2009

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Jason even said he accepted a role in the film without even seeing the script.

He said: "I have a very small part but the minute you hear it's Ricky Gervais on the phone, it's just a case of, 'Tell me when and where to show up.' "

Other actors took a little more convincing, with Ricky even making jokes about fake testicles in order to get Philip Seymour Hoffman involved for a cameo.

He said: "I didn't know Philip Seymour Hoffman, but I sent him an email saying, 'Dear Philip, please do my new film. There is no money as I spent it on testicular implants. But don't think of them as my testicles, think of them as our testicles. Philip loved it and it worked."

Testicle jokes aside, other problems on set appeared with the casting of 'Alias' beauty Jennifer Garner, who admits she couldn't cope with the concept of the entirely truthful world.

She said: "I would not even attempt to go one day without lying.

"What if someone asks you how you are and you have to stop and tell them how you are really feeling? You would never get through the day. No, I have to lie."

She also said she found working on the set of the film near impossible, because Ricky kept ruining her takes with his laughter.

She added: "The worst thing about him as a director is that if something is funny at all - and it was very improvisational - he breaks and laughs and ruins your take.

"I would say to him, 'It's your movie, but can you just leave? Maybe just go into another room?"

Although the director may have been in stitches for most of the making of 'The Invention Of Lying', he has said that his aims lie not just in making people laugh, but he is hoping to capture romance and drama too.

He said of the finished product: "I think it's a very sweet, romantic film. The comedy concept is just a device to deliver all those other things: the satire, the romance, the big questions of life and death. And I hope we do it in an entertaining way.

"I find comedy easy, and I find drama exciting and tantalising. With everything I've done I've always ended up moving towards drama. Comedy is easy for me, but with drama, I don't know - it's still the Holy Grail."

The film is also, to an extent, a make or break move for Ricky. His comic talents have shined for a long time, but with 'The Invention of Lying' he has more responsibility than ever, and more to live up to. The critics have always been favourable to him so far, and the initial reaction to the movie has been very promising, but the box office is where the real results are, and if he makes it Ricky may be in the running to become the British Woody Allen.

He's urging people not to take it too seriously however, writing on his blog: "Dear critics (everyone), when judging the film, please remember that it is a high concept, PG 13 romantic comedy. It's not 'Schindler's List' or 'The Godfather'.

"If you compare it to serious works of genius it will not fair that well. If you compare it to many other lighthearted comedy movies it will do rather well."

"I know full well that some will hold it up to scrutiny like I think it is 'Citizen Kane'. But I don't.

"Some will love the movie and some will hate it. Some will hate it so much that they will also hate the fact that some people love it. Most that love it won't care that some people hate it. Some that love it will also love the fact that some people hate it. I am one of those people, but I also love the fact that some people will love it. You get the point."

By Andy Tillett

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