After The Office and Extras, Ricky Gervais turned his pen and performing to Hollywood film scripts. Steve Pratt reports.

AS his latest US movie opens, The Office and Extras star Ricky Gervais reckons he still’s amazed that he’s a Hollywood favourite.

“I can’t believe all these people want to work with me. Truth is, I’m a bit of a chancer. I’m very lucky to be in this position and no one’s found me out yet,” he says.

The Invention Of Lying is very much his baby – he’s the writer, director and star.

He plays loser Mark Bellison, who’s unlucky in love and in work. But also the only person who can lie in an alternate reality where everyone tells the truth.

So when Mark goes to meet his beautiful blind date Anna (Jennifer Garner) and asks her how she is, she takes one look at him and without a second thought says, “Depressed and pessimistic about our date”.

And no, Gervais doesn’t mind all the insults that are hurled at him during the course of the film. “I love it and I don’t know if that’s because I’ve got no ego at all or such a big ego that nothing can hurt me.

Someone insulting me makes me laugh,” he says.

While the film marks his directorial debut, he’s long been writing his own material, breaking into Hollywood after Extras and the US version of The Office.

Since starring in last year’s Ghost Town, he’s lost some of the David Brent paunch from hitting the gym in the States, but he insists he won’t change in other ways and will not be sucked into the LA movie machine.

“I don’t think I play the Hollywood game as such.

I’m not really an actor for hire. I’ve done the odd bits, but they’re either returning the favour or just for a laugh,” he says.

“I still see myself as a bit of a cottage industry, being in a room, creating this stuff and seeing if anyone wants it as opposed to going to work for someone.”

He teamed up with American newcomer Matthew Robinson, to write and direct the film. His character Mark works for a film company, but in the alternate world where lying, and therefore fiction, is inconceivable, the films are simply people reading out lists of facts. “It’s things like Napoleon, The Invention Of The Fork and Mathematics.

Mark is lumbered with the 14th Century and no one wants to see that, it’s depressing,” Gervais explains.

“It’s just the Black Plague.

Then he gets fired. But when he discovers he can lie, he can tell the greatest stories ever told.”

A world without lies is also a world without advertising slogans, where casinos reveal the true odds of a win and Mark’s favourite bar is simply called Cheap Place To Drink.

When Mark realises his incredible power, he uses it to become wealthy, but deep down he’s a nice guy.

He’s always used comedy as a Trojan horse to deliver bigger ideas, he continues.

“The Office was a sitcom, but we explored things like mid-life crisis and wasting your life. Extras started off as a knock-about satire about the entertainment industry, but turned out to be a thing about friendship and I think this is a philosophical movie.”

Serious ideas aside, Gervais found it hard to keep a straight face on set and admits he interrupted takes time and time again when he got the giggles.

“No one else ruins the takes, I do. If someone says something funny I laugh, even if it’s the 15th time they’ve said it, I think ‘That was funny’ and I laugh and I ruin the take,” he says.

“I’ve always been attracted to humour and funny people in general and it’s a joy to make people laugh but it’s not as good as laughing yourself. I’d rather be the bloke in the room laughing at other people, I don’t need to make people laugh, I surround myself with funny people, I laugh all the time.”

Gervais recently finished work on Cemetary Junction, which he wrote, directed and produced with longterm comedy partner Stephen Merchant and is due out next year.

He also starred in it, but ask him whether he prefers being director, actor or writer and he’s quick to respond. The reason I ever started being in stuff or producing it or directing it was to protect the writing. I see the writing as the DNA and all the rest is bringing up the kid.”

■ The Invention Of Lying opens in cinemas tomorrow.