‘David Brent: Life On The Road’ star Jo Hartley is desperate to work with Ricky Gervais again.
The 44-year-old actress plays Pauline in the ‘mockumentary’ comedy film which sees Ricky resurrect his character from ‘The Office’ who is trying to fulfil his dream of becoming a pop star.
Jo had a great experience being directed by Ricky for the project and she’s keen to collaborate with him again in the future, even though he has a terrible habit of bursting into laughter whilst shooting scenes.
Speaking at the world premiere of the movie in London’s Leicester Square on Wednesday evening (10.08.16), she told BANG Showbiz: "I would love to work with Ricky again, I really would. I enjoyed being around him, I enjoyed working with him, he gives everyone a really easy day but he packs a lot into it. He’s very kind to people on set and he lets you bring what you want to the piece and he doesn’t take himself too seriously but he takes his work seriously. Ricky knows exactly what he wants but he’s also open to things as well."
Revealing his habit for ‘corpsing’ on set, she added: "I tried to keep it together. My first day on set, I don’t know if I was terrified, but I was thinking, ‘Don’t laugh, don’t laugh.’ He’s so great on set, but he does laugh a lot, and I really tried not to laugh and I tried to stay in character. The making of and the extras will be amazing. He constantly laughs and he has this amazingly infectious laugh which sets everyone off."
Jo admits she identifies with Brent and even though the hapless travelling salesman says lots of cringe-worthy things and is embarrassing she believes the character has a heart of gold.
She said: "I love the way Ricky writes for the everyman. His stories are from the heart and he has this way of touching you. In the ‘David Brent’ movie there’s points in the film where I just broke down in tears and I didn’t expect that. You know, Brent is a bit of a dafty, he’s wearing white suits and doing his music and saying things that he shouldn’t be saying but he doesn’t mean any harm to anybody. I find Brent really endearing, I identify with him … My character is quite serious and she’s very down to earth and she’s very moral and she tries to see the best in everyone and that includes Brent."
‘David Brent: Life On The Road’ hits cinemas on 19 August.
Jo Hartley ready to work with Ricky Gervais again
