Every time Ricky Gervais has hosted the Golden Globes, it would be easy for us to walk away with the assumption that he despises Hollywood. Not just the Hollywood stars, but the whole powerful, evolving cultural and industrial ethos. However, we must remember that he is a comedian who revels in the “shock factor” component of stand up.
Ricky Gervais has taken swipes at actors themselves but really he is mocking the elite aspect of Hollywood. He treats his hosting as if he’s an outsider who shouldn’t be there. But is he really an outsider? He has starred in Hollywood movies, he owns a home in New York City, and he has brushed shoulders with many Hollywood stars. So, let’s break down his relationship with the industry to decipher if he really is anti-Hollywood, or just anti-BS.
Ricky Gervais Brought Hollywood to Him
The first thing to note is that Ricky Gervais never set out to be famous actor. Prior to breaking out with The Office, he dabbled in pop music, where he did have aspirations of becoming famous. Following this, there was an extensive gap where Gervais fell into normal 9-5 life, and this is where The Office was born. Co-created with Stephen Merchant, The Office was somewhat of a happy accident. The two worked together at a radio station where they would routinely muck around. After Merchant saw Gervais act out his wacky character David Brent, he decided to put it on film. This would eventually get into the hands of the BBC, who greenlit a full sitcom.
The Office was a huge hit and quickly amassed a global audience. Offers flew in for Gervais, but instead of heading straight to Hollywood, be brought Tinseltown to the United Kingdom. With their next series, Gervais and Merchant inverted the power dynamic by bringing Hollywood actors to British sets. Extras followed the mishaps of Andy Millman (Gervais), a struggling actor who has found himself confined to background roles. As he desperately tries to claw his way into the industry, his days are filled with awkward interactions that only hinder him further.
Mega stars like Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, and Samuel L. Jackson boarded Extras to play exaggerated versions of themselves, mostly due to their love for The Office. What this showed us was, at the time, Gervais didn’t seem to hate Hollywood. In fact, he was clearly rather compelled by it. However, he was choosing to navigate it on his own terms.
Transactional Stardom: Using Hollywood to Build His Own Empire
In the 2000’s, there wasn’t really any notion that Ricky Gervais disliked Hollywood. He starred in supporting roles in films like the Night at the Museum series, and Stardust. He also took on a leading role in the acclaimed comedy Ghost Town. However, the latter may be the exception to his firm rule.
Gervais has stated on many occasions that he has no desire to be an actor for hire, turning down roles in films like The Darkest Hour, and the Mission: Impossible franchise. This is mainly due to the fact that he does not like working on material that wasn’t written by himself. Gervais cites Ghost Town as an exception to the rule as he was just so wowed by the script. But for Night at the Museum and Stardust, these two movies tied into his hit series, Extras.
For Night at the Museum, Gervais starred in the film as a favor to Ben Stiller after he featured in Extras. When it comes to Stardust, Gervais has explained how he only took on the small role to convince De Niro to star in Extras. Outside of these films, Gervais’ brushes with Hollywood have come from movies he wrote and directed himself, such as The Invention of Lying and Special Correspondents.
The Golden Globes: Performance vs. Reality
Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards for three consecutive years in 2010, 2011, 2012 and returned to host in 2016 and 2020. His no holds barred approach sent shockwaves through the industry as he ribbed Hollywood’s finest stars. While many saw it as a good old fashioned roasting, others found it a touch too far. This was perhaps the moment many begun to believe he had grown to hate Hollywood. However, you must separate the art from the artist.
The timing of Gervais’ step away from Hollywood could seem like it was the result of the backlash he faced from the Golden Globes. Yet the real shift came after the COVID-19 pandemic. During lockdown, Gervais would regularly live stream on his official X page, and he would get extremely candid. It was during these live streams that it became clear that Gervais is a homebody through and through, explaining how he enjoyed filming After Life because it was close to his home in Hampstead Heath.
Once lockdowns lifted in the UK, Gervais was back to work on After Life and was also gigging like crazy with his stand up material. Since then, he hasn’t slowed down. He has been writing a new animated show for Netflix and has been dropping comedy specials biyearly. Today, he considers himself a comedian first and foremost. So, to sum it up, it doesn’t seem like Gervais despises Hollywood. He is simply a man who prefers to do things on his own terms. While he has heavily criticized celebrities for lecturing the public on politics and morality while living in luxury, it seems his shutout of Hollywood comes more from wanting to stay in his own lane creatively.
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