This Side of the Truth is Ricky's first movie as writer and director together with Matt Robinson. It's a comedy set in a world where no one has ever had the ability to lie. Until now.


Week ten - April 2008

So the end to a great week.

Yesterday I spent the day pretending to confuse Jason Bateman with Michael J. Fox. The more he didn't laugh the funnier it was.

He got most annoyed when I thought he was 40 something. "I'm 39" he said in a high voice, and asked for more make-up.

At one point the sound-man said he could hear Jason's hair because there was so much product in it.

After lunch I went to his trailer to shoot him with my biggest nerf gun (that sounds like a gay euphemism but it isn't). I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" he said in a camp Teen Wolf Too type voice.

"Ricky" I said.

So for a joke he opened the door mooning me.

This was a bad Idea for two reasons.
1. I shot him in the arse.
2. We were filming it on the cam-corder.
Footage coming soon.

Make-up is for girls...






Shot a really funny and sweet scene set in an old folks home today.

It was peaceful. People just sitting around not doing much. But that's what film crew's are like (OK that's the last time I do that joke).

No but seriously, looking around at the old guys dotted about looking vacantly into space I thought of Karl Pilkington. So I called him. He's on holiday again! I spoke to him for about 30 seconds then had to shoot a scene. Later I got this e mail from him.

Alright

Sick of it here. Came away to try and get the book done but can't concentrate. The villa looked good in the brouchure but what it didn't tell you was the fact that I'd be stuck in between two familes with more kids than the Waltons.

It started with just the one Scottish family who has a couple of kids who are allowed to run riot. The mam keeps telling 'em to shush but they take no notice. The mam is very ginger and just sits in the shade while the dad does nothing but sit there burping, tanning his tattoos and singing the Scooby Doo theme tune to keep the youngest of the kids happy. The scottish accent is well hard sounding. When he sang Bob the builder theme tune it sounded well threatening when he got to the 'can he fix it' bit.

But now they seem pretty quiet compared to the new mob next door. I think it's two families and an aunty from Wales. There's about six kids. One of which I think there is something wrong with. He's a stocky little fella with no neck and big ears who gets upset pretty quickly if none of the grown ups watch him jump in the pool. He got upset yesterday and tried to drown his brother. He didn't really get told off for it, they just sent him inside to play pool. (they have a pool table and table tennis in their villa, we haven't even got a bleedin' radio) The back of the lad's ears are really red from the sun (at least he can't burn his non-existent neck though). As I type this he is dancing to that song by Mika. The older people are clapping him. They'll probably get him on that 'Britain's got Talent' programme.

Can't really escape them either as there's not much to see round here. The holiday rep asked if we were interested in going on a trip to the leather factory.

see ya.



Matt (my co-director) did his cameo.

He had to step forward from a crowd and say one line.

It is about 2.5 seconds of screen time but I thought it would be a great idea for him to spend hours in make up to look like a complete nerd.

He was very professional and a little nervous so during the first take as he delivered his line he was shot in the face with nerf guns.

We have this on film.

Here is Matt, about to go to make up






What a great few weeks.

Broke Karl Pilkington. Won a Bafta and a "looking surprised" competition. Oh and started filming my first Hollywood movie.

We had a set visit from the big-wigs at Warners and Universal today.

There weren't quite enough nerf guns to go round so I think they will get some more if they come down again. I think the company that make them should send us supplies for all the free advertising. I also love Rolex, Hugo Boss and Bollinger.

Simon and Garfunkel have let themselves go a bit...






update...
Rob got back to New York 3 hours late.

Here are the pictures from the looking surprised competition.

Ricky looking surprised...




Ricky looking very surprised...




Ricky looking the most surprised...







Stayed in Boston this weekend.

My egg-headed Brum-chum Rob and his wife Jill flew from New York for a visit.

I got a text from Rob late Friday night which read "Damn you and your private jet. The plane is delayed by two hours." I can even annoy people without being near them.

I met up with them on Saturday for lunch at my hotel. The restaurant was too noisy though (and by that I mean there were some other people in it) so we went and found a very nice quieter place called PAPA RAZZI'S.

There were photos of famous people all over the walls. I chose a table next to a very nice picture of the very funny Richard Lewis. He looked like something out out of The Velvet Underground in this particular snap shot. Actually he looks like that in real life too.

I had chicken and spaghetti (they didn't do mash).

After lunch we walked along Charles Street. I saw a little red cowboy hat and offered to buy it for Rob as long as he would wear it. He said that wasn't really a tempting offer.

It was raining so I shared Rob's umbrella. He was worried that if people recognised me they would think that he was my butler. I decided that he could have the umbrella and I would wear his baseball cap. This annoyed him for many reasons.
1. he had suggested before we left the hotel that I should take an umbrella.
2. "You can't just take someone's hat", (I've never heard this before).
3. his head was cold and I've got hair.
4. the hat was getting wet now.
and 5. I stretched it.

We went to L'Espalier for dinner. Rob had so much to eat I was worried he was going to be ill. (He is very sickly and is often poorly.) During the meal I threw a cork at his head which bounced back to me and I caught it. This really annoyed him as I was still armed.

Trying to avoid a repeat offence, Rob stretched his arm out to grab the cork. I grabbed one of his fingers and he was trapped. His arm was fully stretched across the table and he was thus unable to yank it free incase he knocked stuff over.

He quietly begged me to let him go. It must have looked very romantic. I eventually let him go. Later I threw the cork at his head again.

After dinner we went back to my hotel. Rob and I had a competition to see who could get a photo of themselves looking the most surprised. Rob said it wasn't really a competition as only I was taking part. I will post the photos in my next blog.

On Sunday we went for brunch. I accidentally got marmalade on Rob's jumper. I put a crumpet in my pocket and we went to feed the squirrels. They didn't like crumpet but the ducks loved it. A goose came over for some and scared me. This made Rob very happy.

That's what I do. I make my friends happy.



Week nine - April 2008

Woke up to the news that I won an LA Bafta - never heard of them before this week but it still counts. (Until they start handing them out to everyone.)

It was for the Daniel Radcliffe episode which I think is the same episode that won the Emmy. (Or maybe it was the Golden Globe)

Anyway I knew it would be a good episode when we came up with the newspaper headline "TV bully kicks dwarf in face".

Had one of the best few days filming so far.

We shot the biggest scene of the movie over three days with hundreds of extras. Possibly the best group of extras I've ever worked with.

We had our first set visit too. A lovely chap from the LA Times flew in to interview me and Matt and a few of the cast. He saw me directing, and acting, having a laugh with the crew and keeping the background artists amused.

When he left I shouted at people and had an orphanage closed down because I needed somewhere to keep my plane dry.

He saw none of this so the article should be very positive.



Feeling the pressure of keeping up an internationally acclaimed blog, I thought I'd call in some help from the people who owe me big.

I sent an e-mail to John Hodgman who is soon to star in this film. Here it is with his replies...

RG.   Write something funny for the film blog. I'm running out of things to say. Please complete this questionaire

1. Although you've never said it publicly, you consider Ricky Gervais to be not only a handsome man, but also a genius. Why? Why have you not said it publicly?
JH.   I consider Gervais a handsome man because he gives people rides in horse-drawn carriages. I consider him a genius because he does it FOR MONEY. Also, he has a brilliant comic mind. His eyepatch is hilarious, and not just for the usual reasons (lack of eye).

RG.  2. Like all intellectuals you both need and despise your fans. What do you hate about them most?
JH.  On the contrary, I love my "fans", and that is why I keep an ongoing conversation with them via my blog, areasofmyexpertise.blogspot.com and my twitter account, www.twitter.com/hodgman. The only thing I really despise is advertising.

RG.  3. Would you rather have giant frog feet or lobster claw hands? Why?
JH.  Frog feet, obviously. My carny days are over, and I like typing. I also hate it when people try to eat my hands with butter.

RG.  4. Who would you have play you in a biopic; Phillip Seymore Hoffman, or Gary Coleman? (Be careful. This is a trap to see if you are racist or not)
JH.  Philip Seymour Hoffman as "young hodgman--the carny years." Gary Coleman as "old hodgman." and Gary Oldman as "immortal hodgman in his castle, 1000 years from now."

RG.  5. Why are you a racist?
JH.  I am not a racist. I just think that the people with lobster claw hands now enjoy an institutional advantage over other Americans that isn't fair in a supposed society of equals.

I hope this helps you fill up your blog. See you soon. Thank you, and

That is all



Jake is still alive after the wasabe incident.

Today we dressed him up as a caveman.

This was actually useful as it was a make up test for a scene we're shooting next week. He looked really weird. His nose was big and his eyebrows made him look really mental.

He looked even worse in the caveman make up. (You must've seen that one coming.)

I read an article today in Variety magazine entitled "Who will be the next Ricky Gervais?" It was basically listing the hundreds of Brits trying to break America.

A very flattering title; it suggests that I am the zenith of international achievement. However, I don't think that I'm quite done being the first Ricky Gervais yet. I haven't started my US tour yet. Ghost Town, my first lead in a Hollywood film isn't even released until September. I'm halfway through my directorial debut.

If these are all flops no one will want to be the next Ricky fucking Gervais.

It's so funny when I read that so and so is going to be huge in America because their sitcom is being re-made. It's usually the last we hear of that little project. But since the success of The Office it's like The Goldrush. I think it's peoples' PR machines getting carried away. I was "Huge in America" about 3 years before any one really new my name.

Take everything you read with a pinch of salt. Or wasabe...

I'm up for an LA Bafta tonight apparently. I'm not sure what that is but I'll have one if they're handing them out. Winning that could make me the next me.



We fed Jake a spoonful of wasabe today.

I don't know why he ate it.

As he choked, went red, sweated a bit, then went to lie down in Matt's trailer before throwing up, he said, "I thought it would be funnier than this."

So did I, Jake. So did I.

It was funny when it happened to Karl Pilkington. I think that's because it was by mistake. We were in the Ivy in London and Karl had ordered an oriental mix starter. I suddenly turned to see him gasping for air and water.

"I ate that green stuff," he spluttered.

"Why did you eat it all at once?" I said.

He replied, "I thought it was a mushy pea."

Why would they put one mushy pea on a plate. Idiot.


Louis CK did some eating today too. He thought it would be a good idea to start the scene by eating a chocolate.

Of course for continuity he had to eat a chocolate at the beginning of every take. He felt sick by lunch time. I warned him but he didn't listen.

We did lots of ad libbing today and ruined most takes laughing.

On film, with two cameras running, that's a lot of money down the drain. We had fun though. I think we were the only ones having fun.

I pointed out to Louis that no one else found us funny. He didn't care. He was eating free chocolates.

I looked around the room at all the stoney faces. It felt like the set of Schindler's List.

Matt pointed out that crew are trained not to laugh when they are recording stuff.

Anyway, we've got so much more footage for the DVD gag reel. (They didn't even have one on the Schindler's List DVD and that sold millions)



We converted the place Pat Benatar played last week into a casino today. It looked great. The art and props department worked over the weekend and did and amazing job.

I'm always slightly humbled by the amount of effort people go to for a a few minutes of comedy.

Then I get over that and start shouting at people to hurry up because I'm hungry.

That's me explaining to the DP- "I want a pizza, this big"




I was filming scenes with Louis CK. He is so good in this.

I think people are going to love his character, Greg. He's so useless, and stupid and sort of sweet in a slobbish, irritating way.

And luckily his character is very similar. ( I don't give a fuck if you saw that one coming)

He seriously is great. (He is playing London by the way so you must get a ticket if you've never seen him live)

I noticed today that he looks like a giant Teddy Bear. This amused me so much more than him.






Popped to New York again for the weekend.

We got to the tiny airport near Lowell about 20 minutes early and the two pilots were waiting. One of them said, "Hi, ready?" And we were off. Amazing.

At first they couldn't shut the door properly. They said, "It's not a problem because I was told that an identical plane is standing by as back-up."

He tried the door again, then stopped, looked at me and Jane, and said, "You must be pretty important if they have a spare plane for you in case."

I laughed and stopped myself from saying "That's good. Last week they thought I was the fucking chef."

The door closed and we arrived in New York about an hour later. I got to The Four Seasons and immediately had a nap. (It must've been the champagne on the plane.)

We met our friends Rob and Jill at the the world famous 21 Club for dinner. It really is a magical place. We sat at Frank Sinatra's table. The food is amazing. I had chicken and mash.

As a lovely surprise they brought us free champagne and a special extra course compliments of the chef. Unfortunately it was four whole soft shell crabs. I felt really bad, but we had to send two of them back. Jill is a vegetarian and I can't eat things with that many legs.

It was a lovely gesture though.

Rob was a vegetarian until last year but he managed to eat pork, followed by steak followed by a whole crab. No wonder he couldn't finish his trifle. He loves trifle. And creme brulee.

On Sunday we did a bit of house hunting before returning to Lowell on the jet. I felt like Karl Pilkington. Oh I nearly forgot - Karl has agreed to do a special one-off show. I'll tell you more about that soon.

If I do get a place in New York it will need a big garage for this. John Travolta's got a much bigger one than me. (grow up)




Week eight - April 2008

There was the most amazing sunset over Lowell last night.

I like this town more and more. It looks beautiful on film too. It is the perfect setting for this movie.

On the one hand it's a classic American small town and on the other it's a town like no other town you've ever seen before.

I filmed the first scenes with Jennifer Garner today.

She is a perfectionist so we did two takes in the last scene which meant we didn't wrap till 4.45.

On a more positive note, we cast another big name in a cameo role.

I can't give away who that is but I have warned the hair and make-up department that he'll only need make-up.

Who knows who he is? The good people of Lowell think they know the answer




It was very hot today in Lowell.

We were inside an air-conditioned bank though.

As a brit I hate missing a lovely day. We always think it may be the last of the year.

As a brit I would have also complained about the heat and the sun in my eyes if we'd have been filming outside.

Luckily we finished at 4.30 and I went for a jog around the town. I ran past loads of trucks. It turned out to be Pat Benitar's road crew. She is playing the local venue.

We have to turn that into a casino next week so I hope she leaves it tidy.

I heard that Extras is up for another couple of awards. A Banff and an LA Bafta. I can't go the the ceremonies but I wish me luck.

I got to do a couple of scenes with my regular stand in Michael. He was playing a homeless man so it was nice that I looked better than him for a change. (he still looks better than me though, doesn't he?)




Two great days in a row. And by that I mean we finished at 4pm. (People warned me that the hours would be slightly longer on a film than TV).

People can't understand how we are doing such short hours.

The answer is simple; I am turning in some very shoddy work. This won't even go straight to dvd. This is going straight to radio.

No, but seriously,... I think the answer is, don't do shots you know you won't use. And rush the crew - they love that.

Here is Rob Lowe hiding behind a girl. Look at his little gun.




I went to New York again for the weekend to see my friend Rob.

The nice people at MRC (the financiers of this movie) have given me a private jet for the duration.

It's un-be-fucking-lievable. It's the closest thing to actually being able to fly yourself. It's a company called Marquis Jet and they know how to run an airline.

It's 48 minutes to New York. They take off when you get there and there's no fuss. It's so casual.

They ask for some ID when you get on. They show you where the exits are, where the refreshments are and you're in the air in about 3 minutes. Even the food is great.

Being the only person on a plane is weird but being the only person in an airport is weirder. I turned up in my usual attire - black T-shirt, sweat pants and trainers and the pilot told me that someone thought I was the chef.

A limo met me at the other end and I was at The Four Seasons in half an hour (the best hotel in the city). I went to my room, got changed and went to the gym. I worked out, then went to the front desk and asked for another key as I had locked the first one they gave me in my room.

I met up with my pear-headed pal Rob and we ate pasta and drank wine.

We came up with the idea for the next Flanimals book. Fladpoles - alien larvae that can turn into any adult Flanimal. Then I got Rob in a head-lock so he went home.

Oh, the filming is going well too.

Here, Gervais, Fey and Lowe turn on the photographer. Look at my face. How brilliant do I think this is? I'm 46 by the way.



Week seven - April 2008

Lowe wanted more punishment.

We are about the same age but as you can see Rob has let himself go a bit.

We were about to do a duel here until someone said we had to walk a whole 10 paces.

I got my assistant to drive me.




Did some really funny scenes today with Rob Lowe, Tina Fey and the great Jeffrey Tambor.

Lunch time I had chicken and mash and introduced Rob and Tina to the joys of Nerf guns.

Warner Brothers saw this blog and sent some of the most incredible Nerf weaponry in the world. One gun fires six darts at once and has a rocket launcher.

It soon got out of hand and in one particular stand off I shot West Wing star and Hollywood hunk Lowe in the eye.

He was fine but it made me think how embarrassing it would be to have to phone up Warner Brothers and explain that the film is delayed because the director blinded one of the stars while "having a laugh".

I made a rule that everyone had to wear sunglasses.

We continued and I sweated for the first few takes after lunch. It did not affect my performance. It didn't affect anything. I always look a bit sweaty.

At least my right eye wasn't bloodshot like that loser Lowe.


It was a lovely day for a bit of directing...




But I'm happy when the day is over too...



I just had two great days shooting scenes in a bar with Louis CK, the funniest stand up working America.

We ruined about half the takes laughing but at least we know we've got some good DVD Extras.

We shot our first outdoor scene today too and a huge crowd filled the streets to watch. Usually I would hate this and get stressed out, but because the people of Lowell were so quiet and polite it was actually quite pleasant.

It was like filming in front of a studio audience. They even laughed when I fucked up.

However, the Lowell sun misbehaved a bit. Not the newspaper, the gigantic ball of burning gas 93 million miles away which was meant to drop behind a building by 3.15.

It didn't.

In fact at one point I'm sure it actually went up a bit.

So in those scenes I will be squinting like a fat little mole type creature.

Before I do my next film I will learn how to control the elements. Then I will destroy mankind. (I meant to just think that last bit in my head.)
I went to bed last night at 8.45 pm. I set two alarm clocks.

I didn't need either of them.

I got up at 6 am and had an egg. It was like something from Rocky. I left out the run and all the punching meat and stuff and went to the set.

We were shooting a scene in a bar in the heart of Lowell. I had chicken and mash for lunch. The day went brilliantly and we finished two and a half hours early.

No point in working yourself to death. It's only a film.

Talking of films. I saw the finished cut of Ghost Town. It's really fantastic. It's a funny, sweet, grown-up comedy. I'm really proud of it and I think David Koepp has done a great job.

But then again we were there till 7pm some nights.
Week six - April 2008

I do my first scenes (as an actor) tomorrow. They are with Louis CK so should be a lot of fun.

We picked out his clothes yesterday. They are disgusting.

He shaved off his beard for us. He was a little concerned as he had been growing it for most of his career. When he had finished I said "I think it was better with the beard."

He did a double take and I immediately let him know I was joking. We then did a 10 minute rehearsal before Matt and I showed him how good we were with our Nerf guns.

He watched like a bored parent as we ran around shouting "look at me look at me". I feel like Tom Hanks in Big. Hollywood is my best toy. A big thank you to these guys for saying nice things


So the stuff we shot with Chris Guest in fantastic.

Why wouldn't it be? He's a comic genius.

I think I told him as much when I interviewed him. Here's few minutes of that interview.


My girlfriend Jane and I went to dinner with Christopher Guest last night.

We went to arguably the best restaurant in Boston, L'Espalier. It is very posh but luckily serves chicken (I don't like things that are still bleeding or have too many legs or live in shells).

It was great though. Chris flew back to LA ridiculously early and I'm so grateful to him for coming all that way for his amazing cameo.

He is certainly a living legend for a generation of comedy fans. He is also one of the nicest people in the world. Here he is in a classic scene from nearly 25 years ago.


Today we did final hair, make up and costume screen tests. Here are some pictures.

This is Gia, one of the cutest things I have ever seen. I worked with her on Ghost Town and simply had to hire her for this movie too. She also comes with a hair stylist called Sasha.




Me in a brown suit.




The clapper board.




Me trying to look cool. (It nearly works because I'm far away and I'm pretty sure the picture is distorted and makes me look thinner.)




+++++ STOP PRESS +++++

Mega nerd alert warp 9.

The magnificent Patrick Stewart has joined the cast of This Side of The Truth as the narrator.

His cameo in Extras was one of my favourite filming days of my career and I can't wait to hook up with him again.

Here he is with one of the finest comic performances of all time.

So with hours to go before we film the very first second of this movie, things are going well.

The crew are great.

The cast is ridiculous.

And the script, even though we say so ourselves is very funny.

But I think we can still screw up the film. Here's how; I will ruin most takes by trying to make the other actors laugh or by laughing myself. We could well go over budget or just run out of money and never finish the film at all. I would have had fun though. Just know that.

Here is a documentary in two parts (part 1 and part 2) showing my work.


Ricky is looking forward to the first day's filming with Christopher Guest.




Scouting for more locations;

Scouting at a graveyard. Nothing funny about that.




The Two Directors put on a puppet show using only their heads.



Week five - March/April 2008

I had a couple of days in New York ahead of getting deep into production.

I think it is my favourite place in the world.

I put a few posters up of Karl Pilkington around the city and played with my chum number one Rob Steen.

He lives on the upper Westside and has a bald head I can squeeze.

It is not round like a fucking orange but it is quite a weird shape. It is more like an upside down pear.

(Although, like Karl, he had never really noticed this until I pointed it out; Glad to be of service.)

Rob does the Flanimals books with me, but we are not doing one this year as I'm too busy.

Unlike Karl, Rob was up for continuing to work, as he is not a lazy Manc twat.

Talking of work I am looking forward to shooting this movie so much now. I think we may have assembled the best comedy cast in the world today.

I hope they are as professional as me. Here's a clip of my cool calm direction.

Today, Ricky has been scouting for set locations in Lowell near Boston, MA...




Hello movie nerds.

This interview from last summer sees me refer to the film as "The other side of the truth".

It only had this title for a few weeks.

"This side of the truth" is better yes?

Another one we kicked around for a while was "The truth about lying". Please tell me we made the right decision.

The problem with a blog is I want it to be interesting.

Now I had a great day but I'm not sure it would be interesting to anyone else in the world.

We did our final shot list, picked out a moustache for Christopher Guest, confirmed a cameo I can't tell you about and I foolishly had salad for lunch.

What was I thinking? I was starving all afternoon. (There are people actually starving in the world so to use that term flippantly is wrong)

Yeah, I was starving, so I had two dinners to make up for it. Roast chicken then pasta.

I'm worried about continuity. If I were to suddenly lose weight the film would be ruined.

See, not very interesting at all.

Oh we had our US release of Ghost Town confirmed today too. It's September 19th. I think I'm more excited about that than I was about The Office or Extras. It's such a classy movie.

Well, you'll be the judge of that. The first trailer will surface in May.

As you can see my influence in Lowell is already being felt.

I hope to have a sign like this on every building before I leave.

Blog Extra...

I have no news at all.

I just wanted to share this with the world.

I received this photo from Christopher Guest in an e-mail a few moments ago.

He wanted to show me how he was preparing for his role in the movie next week.

I get things like this from him on a regular basis. It tells me 2 things. One, everything is OK in the world. And two, there is no pressure on me to grow up, just because I am in my 40s.

Week four - March 2008
So according to imdb.com we are the 1375th most talked about film this week.

That's not good enough!

I want to be in the top 100.

I'll teach them to enter me into a popularity contest.

Go to imdb.com and click on This Side of the Truth about 800 times each. That should do it. We'll see who's more popular won't we. WON'T WE!

Live the dream.

I was never any good with a Rubik's cube.

At least, I doubt I would have been any good at it if I'd have actually tried. But that's not the point.

You know how if wanted to change one square you might have to do about 15 moves because of all the knock on effects? Well that's like fucking scheduling a fucking film.

One thing changes and you have to make thirty phone calls and spend an extra 50 fucking grand and stay at work for an extra two bastard hours (Not me obviously but I feel for the rest of the crew.)

I went into comedy to avoid work.

Even this blog is a headache.

When I was filming Ghost Town, which was my first lead in a Hollywood film (an opportunity most people would give their right arm for), I moaned.

I was interviewed by the BBC on set and I even moaned on camera.

Some rival New England news outlets are trying to stir up trouble between me and the good people at the Lowell Sun.

These miscreants, who shall remain nameless, suggested that I insulted the local Lowell tabloid and that the editor replied with a threat to have me whacked.

May I point out that we were BOTH JOKING.

And to the Lowell Sun, don't listen to them. I'll give you an exclusive before we move out of your lovely parish.

My thanks to the guys at fabfunk for putting us straight in at number 3 in the film news chart. I demand a re-count.

See? We're not just big in Lowell.

Louis CK, who is from this neck of the woods is also getting written about...

...
And now he's getting ready to try his hand at full-on acting in Ricky Gervais' upcoming This Side of the Truth (co-written with Matthew Robinson), which begins shooting next month. The film has a gigantic cast (Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, to name a few) and Louis has a fairly central role. "I play the best friend. A big dummy," he said. "[In the role,] I'm sort of a big, stupid idiot."
...

Here's the full article from the Hartford Advocate.

And here's a nice clip of Louis in action. It's the effort I admire.

How do you like our logo? You hadn't noticed? Well look now. You don't really care either way? Good. That's what we were aiming for.

So, a final bit of casting news is that Stephen Merchant and Shaun Williamson will rekindle their on-screen partnership with a small cameo in the movie.

Barry, I mean Shaun, will play my father. Yes I know he's about my age but it's a flash back and he does look a bit like me. Stephen on the other hand looks like no one I've ever met.

Here they are in action...


Blog Extra...

Jason Bateman was furious with me for blogging the details of his botched sex-change operation and out of control drug abuse. He burst into my trailer fuming and shouting "I'm not high, I'm drunk. I'm fucking drunk OK? Drunk."

He then started to take of his trousers mumbling "I'll show you a fucking sex-change. They fucking butchered me and you think it's funny. I was teen wolf you mother-fucking limey"

"Well, teen wolf too" I said.

"How are you spelling the too bit?'' he snapped. "T double O" I replied. "Good," he said, a little calmer.

Then, tearful he thanked me for casting him and left. He may have left without his trousers but he left with his fucking dignity god damn it.

I captured the moment on my iPhone.

CASTING UPDATE....
...Jason Bateman is the latest addition to join the cast.

"I'm a huge fan of Jason" says Ricky. "I love his acting style and he's a lovely guy. When he kept calling me and begging to have a walk-on part in the film I said yes immediately. Well, I said, 'why are you so desperate?' first."

Apparently "Master Bateman" as he likes to be called, has spent his amassed wealth on crack and a botched sex change operation.

Now he has what he calls, "a mess down there", but he doesn't care as he is permanently "out of it".


Week Three supplementary entry...
Thanks to all the movie and news websites that said lovely things about the latest cast additions, especially buzzsugar.com who even put up similarly lovely pictures of all the actors.

My favourite pic was Louis CK's which I can only assume was his mug-shot from when he was arrested for armed robbery in Bolivia.

Matt made me feel bad about suggesting that Jake would let himself become our gimp. To put Matt's mind at rest, Jake has a long way to go before he degrades himself as much as my long-time editor and hamster-faced geek, Nigel Williams.

Proof, as if it were needed...

cheers

P.S. This Side of the Truth lawyers, Fungelstein Bodgit and Lim require me to point out that the esteemed Mr CK has never been arrested for any violent crime in any country anywhere in the world ever. Also, the photo makes him look less intelligent that he actually is.

Week three - March 2008
With the main cast complete we have been concentrating this week on the smaller supporting roles. We've been casting in Boston and New York as there are about 70 distinct speaking roles to fill.

We are trying to avoid the "Hollywood actor look". No botox, perma-tans, or unfeasibly white teeth. Normal people. And by normal people I mean people bordering on a freak show exhibit. (In case any of the successful applicants are reading this I don't mean you.).

We want fat, thin, young and old of every race and demographic. Preferably with faces like a catcher's mitt and teeth like a vandalised grave yard.

Makes me look better too. Perfect.



I should point out that in the first picture I am not employing the services of padding or make-up. I think I have let myself go a bit.

Thank you to all the film and comedy websites that have linked to this blog and of course all the film fans that have logged on. I thought I should do a quick FAQ to answer some queries.

Is the film financed with American or English money?
American. The film is funded by MRC and distributed by Warner Brothers in The US and Universal in the rest of the world. The film is completely American; finance, production, location, cast and crew. Except me. (I may wear a bowler hat and drink milky tea all day on set.)

Is it like Liar Liar in reverse?
Not really. It's a contemporary world rather like our own, but in which the human race has never evolved the ability to lie. I play a loser who discovers one day that he, and only he has the ability to lie. In a world where no one even understands the concept of lying, everyone totally believes, without question anything I tell them. I can say anything at all and they accept this as the gospel truth. I can get anything I want. Or can I?

Is Jake (Matt's and my assistant) destined to become our gimp.
Yes. I think this new-found fame has gone to his head. Whenever I want to torture him now I have to go through his agent.

CASTING UPDATE....
Latest cast additions just confirmed - John Hodgman, Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, Jeffrey Tambor join Louis CK, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, Jennifer Garner.
Oh and me, Ricky Gervais, obviously. Not a bad cast for a comedy.


Week two - March 2008
We've nearly finished casting. It's an amazing line up but I can't tell you all the cast just yet - not until the contracts are signed in blood. I should be able to spill the beans, as we say in England, in about a week or so.

I picked out all my costumes today. Some directors/lead actors would choose their wardrobe based on style, creation of original iconography and aesthetic enhancement of the fictional world. I chose mine based on comfort, how long they take to get in and out of and on what I would want to keep when the movie is complete.

I also had to choose a beard. I hate beards. They itch and the glue takes ages to get off. It's only for one shooting day but it's a pain.

(In the film I'm writing with Steve Merchant I'm playing a man with a bad back who sits in an arm chair all day. If I can hide a toilet in the armchair I will have created the perfect acting job for myself)

But anyway, back to This Side of the Truth.

Only a few weeks away from shooting now and I'm really looking forward to it. We're in good shape and we've even started planning the DVD extras. Matt, (co-writer/director) wants Karl Pilkington to do an alternative directors commentary. Can you imagine? Karl will probably be busy with his own film idea by then. It stars Clive Warren (?) and Rebecca De Mornay.
Listen...



Week one - March 2008
I just spent a week in Boston scouting locations for This Side of The Truth, a movie written and directed by me and Matt Robinson.

This is the first movie either of us have directed and only my second lead role in a Hollywood film, (my first being Ghost Town, released later this year).

So when we met the crew and production staff we had to make a pretty good impression to be taken seriously.

The first thing we did was send out our new assistant Jake to buy some nerf guns.

We shot each other for about 20 minutes but were interrupted by our producer saying it was time for a conference call about special effects.

During the call me and Matt passed each other off-putting notes and obscene pictures to make each other laugh. I lost, and at one point had to leave the room.

We finished the day by asking the designer why he had spent so much time on the testicles of the model boar he had made. Once again myself and Matt were the only ones laughing.


I hope we find the finished film as funny.
  




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This Side of the Truth on IMDB

A rave review before the cameras have started rolling at CHUD.COM
This is based on a draft script - so things have changed, but we're not saying what.