Steve Coogan doesn’t mind if you think he’s an asshole. He says as much in reference to 2010’s The Trip, the BBC-produced pseudo-documentary in which the actor (playing “himself”) and fellow British comic Rob Brydon traverse the English countryside—trading impersonations and, in Coogan’s case, behaving in ways that range from churlish to appalling. But he could have been referring to any number of his characters: Alan Partridge, the preening, awkward T.V. host in the BBC’s Knowing You, Knowing Me with Alan Partridge (1994–95); Tony Wilson, the unfaithful, narcissistic scene-maker in 24-Hour Party People (2002); Paul Raymond, the exploitative, drug-hoovering pornographer in this year’s The Look of Love; and now Martin Sixsmith, the bitter, pompous journalist who almost inadvertently helps a working-class Irish woman (Dame Judi Dench) get to the bottom of a family secret in Philomena.
Still, there is something that sets apart from Coogan’s usual amusing misanthropy: serious awards buzz. Dench is perhaps the biggest threat to Blue Jasmine’s Cate Blanchett in the best-actress category, and Philomena, opening Friday and distributed by the Weinstein Company, could score an Oscar nomination for best picture[1]
We spoke with Coogan earlier this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Philomena had its North American premiere. Highlights from our chat:
The Hollywood Blog: Let’s start with the obvious—what drew you to this story?
Steve Coogan: I read an article in the Guardian newspaper online in 2009[2] , when I was in New York doing a part in another middle-brow comedy, playing part number four, bored out of my head. I was looking for something to do, something else to produce maybe. There was a photograph in the newspaper of Martin Sixsmith sitting on a bench next to Philomena, and when I looked at the photo I thought they looked like such an odd couple, this Oxbridge journalist and this working-class Irish woman. The tragedy was obviously very affecting, but the photograph of the two of them was key, because in the photograph she was laughing, and it’s so odd with the story.
It’s almost an unexpected buddy movie.
I just saw something in my head, like . . . she’s laughing, and she’s been through this awful experience. And I thought, If I can put a little comedy into something like that . . .
The film deals heavily with issues involving the Catholic Church. Is that part of your background?
I was raised Catholic. I’m not Catholic now. I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God. But there are people in my life who are religious who I love, and I wanted to honor them as well as maintaining my own beliefs. So although this is a true story, I put a certain amount of my own stuff onto Martin, with his agreement. It’s a mixture of him and me and invention.
It’s not always the most flattering portrait—how did you finesse that with him?
Well, I asked him when we came up with the script. Some of it was based on his book[3] , and by his own admission, when he was fired by the government, he felt very wounded and felt sorry for himself. He was looking for a gig, and this old lady came into his life who had been through so much more and dealt with it with so much more grace than he had. It did serve the story to have him a little unsympathetic early on, to have him go somewhere.
I found it interesting that you play a journalist, which happens to be the occupation of your great creation Alan Partridge. And yet the tone couldn’t be more different, could it?
It’s very different. I went from Philomena straight into finishing writing and shooting the Alan Partridge movie, which is very broad. It’s smart but it’s broad. And that’s a more brutal landscape in some ways, because there are high expectations. It’s almost like mathematics. You’ve got laugh counts per page. Any subtext in a comedy film is like a bonus. The bottom line is you’ve got to be making people laugh and you’ve got to be carrying them through the film. You can have a little bit of a respite, but it’s more of a military kind of plan of attack, really. Whereas with Philomena, this was an opportunity for me to do something that has nuance and has humanity and is about something. There are very few films that are actually about anything these days. No one has a point of view, or they’re scared to have a point of view.
In Britain, you’re best known as Alan Partridge, but in the U.S. you might be most famous for The Trip—or at least for the YouTube clips of you and Rob Brydon exchanging impersonations of Michael Caine and Woody Allen. Do you feel proud that the film has such a robust afterlife?
I’m delighted. I was nervous about The Trip at first. Michael [Winterbottom, the director] wanted to do The Trip, and we just finished shooting the second one here in Italy. I haven’t seen it, but people are telling me it is better than the first one.
I didn’t want to do [the first one]. I thought it would be self-indulgent playing yourself, but he was very, very adamant that it could be done in a way that resonates with people, that doesn’t feel like masturbation, so Rob and I decided, “O.K., we’ll give it a whirl. If anyone can do it, Mike Winterbottom can.” He’s an unusual author. He runs with things with great momentum.
In that film, you were definitely showing a dark side.
Like all these things, there’s a kernel of truth. You just amp up the volume. People think I might be like that, but I don’t really care. The only thing that ultimately matters to me is that I can do my job and that the people in my life know what I’m like and who I am. I would rather that people get me wrong and misunderstand me than know who I am. I’m happy to have people be misinformed so that I have my privacy, even if that means that some people think I’m an asshole.
Maybe you should do a third one, with Judi Dench.
She was annoyed that she wasn’t invited to Italy. She said, “I thought you were going to give me a cameo in it.” She called me out on that.
How intimidating was it to work with Dame Judi Dench?
If something scares me a little, I’m attracted to it. But the question wasn’t whether I was worried, it was whether she and I would gel together, and whether I would be able to hold my own on the screen with her, because she’s such an iconic, powerful figure. She has integrity that she brings to any character that she portrays. I asked Stephen [Frears, the director of Philomena] to watch me and keep an eye on me, because I wanted to be subtle. Sometimes he’d say, “Take it down”—he’d just wave his hand, and I would know exactly what it meant.
Do you think that’s a factor in comedians’ success with drama—having to turn down the volume rather than up?
It depends, because comic actors understand the mechanics of nuance and can do things in a certain way. The problem is that comics are very good at doing their thing, but they’re quite narcissistic, myself included. The problem is listening. A lot of comic actors know how to do their thing, but when a comic actor is bad, it’s when they’re waiting to do their next line and they’re not really listening to the other actor or responding.
I learned a lot about not trying to control everything, because comics can be control freaks. But comedy is a good start because comic actors have got a lot of the mechanical stuff down. They know how to be manipulative. Making people laugh is manipulating people.
Martin learns a lot from Philomena about forgiveness and faith. Did you pick up any big lessons from Judi Dench?
I did, just watching her work. When someone is that good, it makes you bring your A-game, and in some ways it makes it easy because she’s so good that all I have to do is react to what she’s doing. Is it tough acting opposite Judi Dench? Yes. Would it be a lot tougher acting opposite someone who doesn’t act very well? That would be even harder. It’s a nice problem to have.
With Alan Partridge coming out in the U.S., for people who aren’t familiar with the show, are you planning something to introduce American audiences to it?
It’s not part of my plan to have Alan conquer America. If it’s just a cool movie that cool people like, that’s O.K. with me. It’s not part of my plan to have Alan Partridge be a huge success. I don’t think it will be, to be honest. I’m happy with the movie. We managed to satisfy the die-hard fans, and it works for younger audiences who didn’t know the characters. I’m really happy with it, but I don’t think Middle America will see the movie. They’ll think, This guy is a jerk. Philomena is what I’m excited about. I think this has the potential to reach a much bigger audience. I’ve got The Trip sequel coming out, too. I like all that stuff because, as my partner in business says, “The secret of a successful career is never to peak, to stay just below the radar.”
References
- ^ Oscar nomination for best picture (www.goldderby.com)
- ^ Guardian newspaper online in 2009 (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ book (www.amazon.com)
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