Ricky Gervais Raises His Game With A Few Lies
03 October 2009
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Ricky Gervais is an unlikely candidate for Hollywood success. A short, plump, unremarkable looking English man, the wrong side of 40, from Reading, near London, isn't the sort of person you'd imagine opposite Will Smith in the latest blockbuster. Nevertheless, Ricky's comic talents have seen him take on the US and win.
Ricky's status as the funniest English guy in America could also now be set for a further boost with his latest film 'The Invention Of Lying'.
The comedian's knack for picking the right project, determination and hands-on approach to the programmes and films he makes have so far seen rise from darling of UK TV with his show 'The Office' - which he wrote and starred in - to successfully adapting it for the US market - where it has clocked up over 100 episodes - before heading to Tinseltown.
Once in Los Angeles Ricky got his initial break with a small role in Ben Stiller's 'Night At The Museum'. This led him straight to a starring role in 'Ghost Town' this time last year. While the film gained excellent reviews, it was a box office flop - but this didn't hold back Ricky. Undeterred, the comedian instead fortified his involvement with his latest film - 'The Invention Of lying', co-writing, co-directing and starring in the production.
The film started when Ricky, 48, got together with Matthew Robinson, a little-known struggling US scriptwriter. Matthew was plucked from obscurity after Ricky saw his script for the film, and says he's still coming to terms with his leap into the big time.
Matthew described his initial meeting with Ricky about the film, saying: "He said, 'I'm scared to give this to anybody. It's such an amazing script and such a good idea I don't anyone to mess it up.' But then he was like, 'I don't want to direct it myself because I've never done a feature. I can't sleep at night knowing I ruined this script.'"
Ricky himself said: "I just took a chance. I don't know why because I usually say no to everything, but it was a stroke of luck that we got together and we hit it off straight away."
The duo set about re-writing the initial treatment Matthew had come up with, about a world where nobody knows how to lie, and the first person in it - Ricky's character, Mark Bellison - to discover the advantages of not telling the truth.
The results of his new 'invention' see Mark become rich beyond his wildest dreams, and develop a religion which makes him worshipped and revered; however, it isn't enough to make him truly happy. And with all the lies, surely he's headed for disaster. But how will things turn out? Do his morals end up getting the better of him? Does Mark learn honesty is the best policy the hard way? Or does the whole world discover how to lie?
After much deliberation, Ricky and Matthew decided to keep creative control in their own hands and direct the film together - a move which pleased the British funnyman, who says he likes to have to have as much input into the ideas behind his films as possible.
I just took a chance. I don't know why because I usually say no to everything, but it was a stroke of luck that we got together and we hit it off straight away.
Ricky said: "It's funny, because if I don't come up with the idea for a movie, I'm suspicious of it. What excites me the most in coming up with the idea.
"The creative process is where you find the thrill. Yes, the set is fun, awards are fun and money is nice. But there is nothing more fun than me sitting in a room laughing about what I just said. Nothing comes even close."
One source of laughs in 'The Invention of Lying' is surely the depiction of the entirely truthful world. Clips show Mark telling a beautiful woman the world is going to end unless they have sex straight away, and his secretary telling him that nobody left any messages as they all know he's about to get fired. In another scene his date is seen sitting opposite him, talking on her phone saying: "He seems nice, if a bit fat."
The trailers are loaded with the self-depreciating humour, and nail-bitingly uncomfortable scenes which Ricky excels at, as well as hinting at the film's situation-based skits.
The creator can't take all the credit however, and also sure to be supplying their own comic stylings to the film are co-stars Tina Fey (writer of Mean Girls and '30 Rock' actress) and Jonah Hill (star of 'Superbad' and 'Funny People'), who join the all-star cast which includes Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe and Jason Bateman.
For first time director Ricky, working with a previously unknown writer, assembling a cast of this calibre shows the considerable pull his comedy writing has, and just how in-demand he has already become as a name in Hollywood. That and he loves to call in a favour.
Ricky recently said: "It's thrilling to call your friends and ask them to be in your movie. Even better is when you get a quick yes. It makes you want to pick up the phone one more time and ask someone else. That's the truth."
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