Steve Coogan on Working with Rob Brydon: Coogan said his real life friendship with Brydon played a big part in how the two characters interacted onscreen.
“I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve worked with him before and we’re kind of comfortable with each other. Because comically he’s quite creative and so am I, we’re a good match for each other. It’s like when you kind of improv in comedy like a tennis match. You’ve got to be on the ball, especially when you’re trading humorous insults. You’ve gotta concentrate otherwise you’ll lose the game.”
Knowing one another like they do, it was easy for them to push each other’s buttons. “It’s almost like a bickering couple. Couples that have been together a long time – when they have domestic rows they kind of know the weaknesses of their spouse. They know exactly how to wind them up. Sometimes the stuff we do is kind of…it’s not many miles away from reality. But because we know we’re doing it for entertainment, we take the gloves off. But we know that we love each other, really.”
Steve Coogan on Independent Films vs. Big Studio Movies: Like a lot of his peers, Coogan finds work in indie films to be more satisfying. “I think there’s more freedom, you know? Doing a big budget movie is a lot of fun because the food’s great and the hotels are nice [chuckles] but creatively… If you do a big budget movie, too, there’s a lot of money riding on things so lots of decisions have to be ratified by a circle of people. If you’re making a low budget movie, you can kind of make decisions on the hoof. They’re more flexible.”
Coogan said the shorter shooting schedule on indie films also benefits him as an actor. “In a way it does because on a low budget movie you don’t spend half your life sitting in a trailer waiting for something to be lit, because there isn’t time. So time passes more quickly, but it doesn’t seem like you’re particularly working any harder. Sometimes sitting around doing nothing is kind of, bizarre as it sounds, is kind of tiring. Whereas if you’re being stimulated it’s kind of interesting and enjoyable.
It didn’t ever feel like we were rushing things. It never felt like we were just sort of unfocused and sitting around waiting for things to happen. If you keep yourself busy, it’s kind of more enjoyable.”
Steve Coogan on Period Pieces: "I think, you know, when you see period dramas - it’s changing now but I think for a long time you feel the actors as soon as they put the costumes on, they start doing kind of strange, wooden period-acting. I sometimes feel that when people are making a costume drama, the people making the movie are so preoccupied with how beautiful the costumes look and how wonderful the sets are and how glorious it looks, they kind of forget whether what people are saying to each other is interesting.
Costume dramas often look wonderful but aren’t that engaging. The reason I did this movie is because it was unconventional, because it was breaking out of the costume drama.. You know, it was a film within a film. Part of it was costume drama, part of it was present day, part of it involved me playing myself – it was just very unconventional.”
Although Coogan makes it sound like costume dramas aren’t that appealing, one of his next films is also a period piece – “Marie Antoinette.” “That’s right. Well, that’s another thing. You know that if Sofia Coppola’s going to make a costume drama it’s not going to be ordinary,” explained Coogan. “The reason I did that movie was because of her. I put her in the same category as Michael Winterbottom and people like Alexander Payne and Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson. These directors who have their own voices, their own particular voice, and you know that it’s going to be different and exciting. That it’s not going to be conventional. So I suspend my costume drama cynicism…”
The Status of the Alan Partridge Movie: “It’s not written yet, but the will is there to make it. We’re trying to find out who’s interested and who wants to make it with us, who’s going to give us the movie to make it. There’s an idea for it, I’m enthusiastic about it, and we know there’s a lot of people who would like to see that movie. It will happen. It’s not ‘if’ it’s sort of ‘when.’ At the moment it’s proposed – an idea, and a script outline. Because I’m gonna have to actually sit down and write it, I’ve got to find the time. But it will happen.”
Steve Coogan Also has “The Persuaders” in the Works: “Yeah, that’s still gonna happen. I’m seeing Ben [Stiller] to sort of talk about that. That’s another thing; it’s not ‘if’ it’s ‘when’. There’s another project I’m doing with Ben, but yeah, we’re talking about that. I’m a huge admirer of Ben. I think the good thing is I’ve got a lot of respect for him. We met each other through our work. I’d seen his work, he’d seen my work, and he wanted to meet me. We sat down and we found we shared a lot in common. If you both respect each other’s work, then that’s a good start.”
