Why Ricky Gervais turned down ‘The Da Vinci Code’
There are few British entertainment stars with as high a profile name as Ricky Gervais, a comedian who has found unrivalled success on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Gervais’ The Office and Extras found admirers in the UK as well as the US, and he’s gone on to present the Golden Globes in the States on several occasions, with each outing more outrageous than the last.
The success of Gervais with The Office and Extras and also his standup comedy led to several acting offers coming in. In fact, the Reading-born star was once offered a role in Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks, based on Dan Brown’s 2003 novel of the same name.
However, Gervais told Howard that he would have to turn the offer down over fears of actually running the film. He once said: “I told director Ron Howard ‘I will ruin your film.’ The number of times I’ve sat down for a great film by a great director and a British actor pops up and ruins it for me – I don’t want to be that bloke.'”
In fact, Gervais has turned down many roles over the years, either because they are British or “rubbish”. “I’ve probably been offered about 80 films,” he said. “Half of the films I’ve immediately said no to, they’re British. The half that are left are rubbish.”
Because Gervais played David Brent in The Office and because he played Andy Millman in Extras, there was a wide belief that he was as much of an actor as a writer. But for Gervais himself, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
He once told Backstage, “I only directed and produced to protect the writing and then I found that, well, I wrote this with my particular blend of inputs, and I’m the best person for this role. I always feel like I’m getting away with something because I’m not really an actor for hire.”
Gervais continued, “When you create a character, and you go, ‘Oh, there’s a part here for a Ricky Gervais–type character,’ and then someone goes, ‘We should ask Ricky Gervais!’ I’ve been offered biopics and stuff like that, but I explained to them that I’d ruin their film! They wanted me to do Churchill, and I was thinking, ‘You need a real actor!'”
Evidently, Gervais is a writer first and foremost and views acting as something of a “luxury”. “I do feel I’ve taken someone else’s role,” he added, “which is why I only take roles where I feel like it was sort of made for me or it’s written for me. I’m never out of work because I write my own parts.”
