Ricky Gervais “The Point Of Art Is To Make A Connection”
RICKY GERVAIS COULD well afford to rest on his laurels, with a library of awards and a fortune estimated at more than £100 million. Yet the celebrated writer and comedian says he doesn’t care about the accoutrements of success—all he wants is to push artistic boundaries.
“I don’t want to be bigger or richer or win more awards,” says Gervais, 60. “It’s all about the work. If I can be honest and as brave as I can be in comedy or drama, then I can sleep at night. I’ve never wanted to make it safe or anodyne: there’s enough of that. You know, the point of art is to make a connection and for me, the bigger the connection with each individual, the better.”
Gervais is talking over Zoom from his home in London’s swish Hampstead neighbourhood, where it, his smash hit Netflix comedy-drama about a grief-stricken man that he writes, directs and stars in. Gervais has a surprisingly earnest side but also regularly makes jokes at his own expense and bursts into loud cackles of mirth. He’s very easy to talk to. is what Gervais has excelled at ever since he burst onto the scene with in 2001, the benchmark-setting cringe comedy that catapulted him onto the world stage. He and co-creator Stephen Merchant followed it up with (2005-07) and (2011-13), and Gervais’ solo projects include (2012-14) and now . He’s made Hollywood movies and continues to do stand-up comedy and podcasts. Shock has been his USP—for starters, he’s skewered A-listers as five-time host of the Golden Globes and he uses the C-word liberally on Twitter and in the scripts for .
