Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervaisis an English comedian, actor, director, producer, writer and former pop singer and manager...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth25 June 1961
CityWhitley, England
character thinking long
I think that's the fundamental thing - you can go anywhere you like as long as you're following a character that the audience likes and understands.
thinking choices telling-the-truth
I think what makes us human is those choices - whether to tell the truth or not.
drama character thinking
Comedy and drama are different sides of the same coin. And the thing about comedy and drama is about likability. It's about character first. It's about story. And for me, it's about empathy, and I think the realer someone is, the further you can go either way with them.
thinking careers use
I think sometimes you get given a good pile of goodwill, and it's whether you use it up in the first six months or spread it out over a career.
thinking ability
I think everyone has the ability to be loved.
thinking people fundamentals
I think the social faux par is probably what most people fear... more people fear public speaking than death and that's because we don't want to make a fool of ourselves. It's fundamental.
fun mean thinking
People think that it's fun to meet celebrities - but what do you mean by "celebrity"? Someone you recognise? What are they famous for? It's people who've done something that are exciting.
children book thinking
We only do what we think is good and what we're happy with. I do that in stand-up, I even do it with my children's books. I don't do market research, I don't have focus groups, I don't care. I don't care if it fails, honestly. I'd rather have something that's completely mine fail than something succeed that I'm not proud of.
thinking people laughing
It's quite easy to make a load of people laugh, it's often a reflex action, but I think to make them cry is harder without manipulating them.
emotional thinking intellectual
I think comedy has to be an intellectual pursuit. It comes down to logic and analysis. As soon as it becomes emotional, it's not comedy anymore.
thinking people empathy
The most important thing in comedy - apart from empathy, which I think is important even if disguised - is surprise. I like surprising people with the fact that something's even a joke at all.
art thinking years
I think Hollywood's gotten more reactionary and conservative over the years, because there's no longer art in Hollywood. Art suffers in Hollywood.
thinking people waiting
For every wacky postcard, there's a million people waiting to buy it, and for every $10 million of those things, there's one Rembrandt. Purposely, I think I want to aim at doing something that a lot of people won't like. I'm just worried that it looks like I've compared my work with Rembrandt. "Gervais says he's better than Rembrandt!".
thinking laughing office
People think "The Office" was improvised, but it's all on the page. We do that because what we found is that in the early days of "The Office," we went in with it sort of 80 percent scripted and we did some things and then we improv'd and we did - you know, and it gets a laugh on the floor because it's the first time they've heard it.