STACK September 2016 Issue 143

20 / 109

the big screen is indicative of
the change in how the world
views celebrity from “the time
of the quaint docu-soap with
people who were happy with
their fifteen minutes” to the
“ferocious” world of modern
fame.
“You have people on The
Apprentice, Big Brother and
The X Factor saying, ‘I will
destroy anyone who gets in my way.' He’s
not equipped for that harsh world of alpha
males, the dog-eat-dog,” says Gervais of
Brent’s quest for recognition. “He’s a 55-year-
old tampon rep who’s cashing in every penny
he’s earned to make his dream happen.
He’s no longer just pratting around an
office – this is next level tragic.”
Gervais’s decision to return to
Brent after all these years may
well come as a surprise given his
past declarations that bringing
back The Office would see him
“accused of flogging a dead
horse.” The chance to reprise
the role for Comic Relief in
Despite Ricky Gervais’s success across
a number of projects in the worlds of
television (Extras, An Idiot Abroad),
cinema (The Invention of Lying, Cemetery
Junction) and stand up, the 55-year-old
Berkshire-born comic will always be best
remembered for his cringe-worthy antics as
The Office’s David Brent – the useless middle
manager of a suburban paper company with
an unquenchable thirst to be liked, and the
unfortunate habit of putting his foot firmly in
his own mouth.
“There’s a lot of me in Brent and vice
versa, we’re intertwined in many ways,”
explains Gervais. “I was always an idiot who
wanted to make people laugh. We both seek
approval, we both need validation from our
peers, and we both possess egos that make
us giant idiots sometimes – but who doesn’t
relate to that?”
Now, thirteen years after the cameras
stopping rolling at Wernham Hogg, Brent
is back, and this time he’s traded the small
screen for the silver variety. Brent is going
out on tour with his fictional band Foregone
Conclusion – and apart from swapping the
paper trade for the life of a toiletries rep, not
much has changed about Gervais’s
alter-ego.
“He’s still unintentionally
offensive, he still wants to be loved,
and would settle for being liked,”
explains Gervais. “And he believes,
really believes, that fame will be
the best thing that could ever
happen to him.”
The biggest change between
The Office and Life on the
Road, however, is the scale.
Gervais’s decision to take
Brent’s misadventures to
2013 gave Gervais the opportunity to give fans
of Brent a glimpse of where their favourite
middle-manager is now.
“He was managing this young rapper and
came out with the unforgettable political
reggae anthem, Equality Street,” says Gervais
of Brent’s musical return to our screens.
“While writing that, I wrote another six or
seven songs for him – we had this new life
for David Brent, away from The Office.”
And Gervais is content with the possibility
of disappointed fans in favour of focusing on
his favourite character.
“They’ll go to this
thinking it’s The Office:
The Movie and they
will most likely not be
happy,” he laughs, “And
I’m ok with that.”
He’s a 55-year-old
tampon rep who’s
cashing in every penny
he’s earned to make
his dream happen
It’s been over a decade since we last caught up
with bungling boss David Brent, star of mundane
mockumentary The Office. He’s had plenty of time,
then, to become a tampon rep, form a band with a
former member of Razorlight, pen some tunes and
take off on tour…
BRENT’S
BACK
• David Brent:
Life on the Road
is in cinemas now,
and reviewed
on page 26
visit
20 SEPTEMBER 2016
CINEMA
INTERVIEW
The Office
An Idiot Abroad
Extras