Steve Coogan has hinted that the next Alan Partridge outing might be ‘funny and moving’ – and may even get viewers ‘choked up’.
He was talking about Partridge in an interview to promote his new film The Peguin Lessons on Radio X on the Chris Moyles Show.
Coogan also suggested that it won't be long before Partridge returns. Here's an excerpt from the interview.
Steve Coogan – SC
Chris Moyles – CM
CM: "Are we seeing Alan Partridge again?”
SC: “You will be very, very shortly. We’ve been dotting the T's and crossing the I’s – see what I did there?
It's going to be appearing on the BBC quite shortly. I'm not quite sure when, but yeah, he's back with a documentary series on mental health.”
SC: "In actual fact, even though he's obviously not very good at his job, which is the joke, he and the audience do actually learn something genuine, sort of, by the end of it. So even though it's like, you know, not quite the way you thought you learned something, it's actually quite, the last scene – I'm not going tell you what it is – but it's funny and moving at the same time. So, you feel a bit choked up, but you're also laughing your head off, which is my favourite feeling.”
Coogan also revealed that Owen Wilson persuaded him to star in Night At The Museum by paying him ‘out of his own wages!’
SC: “It was fun, you know, but that's like a gig. You just show up. I mean, you show up, you dress up as a Roman soldier, you put tan on your legs, you go out there and just pretend you’re miniature and look at big crosses on sticks. And when they put it together, it looks like you're looking at a giant and things like that. So, it's fun. I tell you what happened once...
Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, they offered me some money. I said, ‘That's not enough. I'm not doing it,’ right? So, Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller said, ‘We'll give Steve some of our wages to make him do it, because we want him to come along.’ It was quite a significant amount to bump it up to what I wanted, and Owen Wilson told me that, he said, ‘I thought that by offering to pay part of my wages, it would shame the studio into paying you what you'd asked for.’ And it didn't. The studio went, ‘Yeah, fine. Yeah, you pay him.’ And That's what they did. So, I ended up taking money out of their pocket.”
Coogan also admitted turning down a title in the honours list, as he says he’s still ‘scratching his head’ over his The Trip co-star Rob Brydon’s MBE
CM: “Why are you not a sir?”
SC: “Do you know what, that’s a very good question. But not one that I want… That’s for other people to ask. That’s something for other people to ask a lot.”
CM: “Do you have any letters after your name?”
SC: “They offered me something, but I said, ‘No, thank you.’”
CM: “Did they really? Is that true?”
SC: “Yeah.”
CM: “Can I ask why you said no?”
SC: “Because I don’t believe in that [inaudible]”
CM: “Okay, right. But would you take a sir?”
SC: “I’d like to be offered something. Look, if they do, I’ll consider it. But really, I just want the letters to put in my downstairs loo.”
CM: “When the honours list comes out – I’m not saying I do this at all – but do you have a look at the list and go, ‘No way, they don’t deserve that.’”
SC: “Yeah. Well, Rob Brydon got an MBE.”
CM: “And no way does he deserve that.”
SC: “And that was five years ago, but I’m still scratching my head about it!”
Tune into The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X weekdays from 6:30am – 10am and on Global Player**
