Ricky Gervais on His New 'Derek' Special, Turning the Golden Globes Into a Roast, and the Return of David Brent

After the pitch-black cringe comedy of The Office and Extras and his ruthless Golden Globes monologues, you could be forgiven for assuming that Ricky Gervais doesn’t have a heart. But his latest TV series Derek, where he plays a dim but cheerful care worker at an old folks’ home, proves that the comedian does have a soft side after all. (Plus, it’s earned him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for best actor in a comedy.)

As Derek wraps up its run with a new special premiering Friday on Netflix, Gervais chats with Yahoo TV about how much Derek really has in common with his previous work, and what a joy it is to play someone who’s happy all the time. Plus, he reflects on his infamous Globes hosting gig (“I turned a schmooze-fest into a roast”) and — are you ready? — gives us the scoop on a big-screen comeback for The Office's David Brent.

The advance buzz on Derek was that it was this radical departure for you. But do you see it as that? Because it’s still a comedy, and The Office and Extras had their sentimental moments, too.
I totally agree. And I know why some people think it’s a radical departure — because they notice me playing with a slightly different deportment and gait and hair and accent and speech pattern. Because it’s a visual medium.

You know, I’ve always tried to use my own mannerisms, because I’m a slave to naturalism and realism, and I’ve always sort of resisted this. I’ve never understood why actors or comedians say to “show my range.” I thought, Who cares? Who’s judging you? What do you mean, “show your range”? They usually mean different accents and different wigs.

Whereas if you look at someone like Dustin Hoffman, his range was being able to play every part he’s done brilliantly. He uses his voice and his mannerisms and his physicality. I think people assume to be a great actor, you have to be Daniel Day-Lewis, you know? So I’m certainly not that guy. But I think this is the first time people have seen me… it looks like I’ve made an effort, you know?

That surprises them.
Yeah, from their rules of acting, it looks like I’m walking with a limp and a hump, so I’m doing Shakespeare. Whereas, you’re right, actually it’s all the same principles I used in The Office and Extras. It’s ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It’s their excruciating social faux pas. I’ve always snuck in drama to my comedy. I’ve always snuck in an arc.

The only thing that I think is important and significantly different in Derek is that, with all my other characters in The Office and Extras, and even my stand-up persona to an extent, we’re laughing at the blind spot. We’re laughing at the difference between how the character sees himself and how we see them, and we find that funny. David Brent is delusional, Andy Millman is a bit delusional, you know?

My standup persona, I play this arrogant, ignorant sort of guy. Whereas in Derek, I’ve closed that blind spot a bit. Dougie is aware that he’s got a dead-end job and a crap life, and it’s his fault. Kev is aware that he’s an outsider sort of drunk that everyone assumes is disgusting, so he is. Dereksays what he means and he means what he says. Hannah’s honest and right. And that leads to sincerity, which I think is the only important difference between Derek and The Office and Extras.

And let’s not forget all the people that are surprised that I had a nice side. When people say, “Oh no, and it wasn’t cruel at all, and you weren’t a horrible, disgusting human being, and you had a bit of heart,” and I say, “Thank you very much!”

Related: ‘The Office’s’ David Brent Made Our List of The 99 Greatest TV Characters Since Tony Soprano

People still think that I’m this great cynic because of the comedy I’ve done over the last 15 years. And it’s really odd, because in everything I’ve done… you know, this is true of any fiction, that you create your own heroes and villains; it’s like role play for the soul. And in mine, the villains always get their comeuppance or they are redeemed, and good people are usually rewarded. I’ve always done that, so it’s strange.

I think it’s because the things you do outside narrative drama or comedy often get more headlines, you know. Three years of the Golden Globes… you usually have to kill a lot of people to get that many column inches. And I think people think, “Wow, he had a go at the most privileged millionaires in the world… he must be pure evil.”

You mentioned the different gait and mannerisms you have while playing Derek. Is there a transformation you go through to play him? It’s a very physical performance, but is there also a different state of mind you go into?
Yeah. And I love being him, and I could be him for the rest of my life. I could do it now. I could literally become him, and I’d never slip or come out of character. It’s a joy to be Derek.

He’s always happy, right? Everything is his favorite thing ever.
He’s always happy. I’ve sort of created him [based] on me and all of us when we’re a child, before the weight of the world and rules and etiquette tells us things we can and can’t say. And I’ve mixed in with this, like, a happy pet. You know, the dog is the happiest thing in the world, and so is Derek. A dog doesn’t say, “I don’t want to do that.” A dog goes, “Brilliant idea! Yeah, you’re the best!” “Do you want to come to the mall?” “Definitely.” “Do you want to go home now?” “Yes, that’s a brilliant idea!”

And it was a conscious sort of antidote to all the cynicism and irony… which I’m most guilty of, you know? But it’s nice inhabiting him and saying all the things you like. I remember we used to list our favorite things. And now it seems, particularly with social media, you list your worst things: “These are the things I hate in the world.” “These are the top ten worst television programs in the world”… it’s always like that! “Top ten characters you wish had died.” [Laughs.] So I did want him to go around liking things, even though he likes sort of uncool things.

And it’s odd as well, because you look at people like Derek and Dougie and Hannah and Kev, and on TV, you think, “Oh my God, what a bunch of losers. No one’s like that.” But you’re comparing it to other TV! You’re comparing it to cop and hospital dramas where the nurses and doctors and cops are all male and female models, you know? If you walk around a real street or a real office, we look more like Dougie and Derek and Kev and Hannah than we look like Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp, and that’s the truth.

Netflix wanted you to do a full third season, but you opted to do your usual model of two seasons and then a special. Why did you choose to do that?
Yeah, they did, and I promised them that, you know, it’s “never say never.” I might come back to it one day. It’s always tempting. You know, it’s a little show, but like everything I do, it’s, I suppose, a passion project. And then it got nominated for a Globe and an Emmy, which is ridiculous.

But I just think when you’re doing live or a speech or anything: If it’s going well, get off; if it’s going badly, get off. You know? So yeah, everything I’ve ever done — The Office, Extras, and now Derek — has basically been seven hours of TV. By American standards, that’s a pilot. That’s ridiculous, isn’t it? But Steve Carell is welcome to do 200 episodes. “Come on, Steve, you could… let’s all make a lot of money again. It’s just seven years of your life! Come on, man. You’re a young guy. Let’s do this.”

Video: Rainn Wilson Plays Stump the Star With ‘The Office’ Trivia

It’s already aired in the U.K., but what can you tell us about the Derek special? We know there’s a wedding happening.
Well, it’s better than the version that aired in the U.K. We’re restricted by network television timing, so this is a bit longer, and it’s a lovelier, nicer ending. It’s a more complete story.

The big thing is Hannah and Tom finally planning their wedding, which Kev describes as possibly the worst wedding of all time. They can’t do a church wedding, they can’t afford a honeymoon, they can’t afford a reception, so they have it at the old people’s home. Tom’s got to work the next day because he’s got this job just to make ends meet, so they decide to stay over in a dead bloke’s room.

But with all that, it’s beautiful as well. Do you know what I mean? I’ve always loved those sort of fairy tales, and I still think it’s a beautiful thing: As long as you’re with the one you love, it doesn’t matter. I did try to subvert the idea that you have to spend $20,000 and show off on your wedding, and it has to be perfect or the rest of your life won’t work. You have to throw so much money at this one day.

And we look back and we show the journey all the characters have had. Vicky’s journey, of course, is that she was a tear-away kid going nowhere, and no one gave her any encouragement, so she didn’t try. But this has sort of shown her love, and she’s turned her life around, and now she’s trying to get a career. And she’s stopping making bad decisions with men, and she wants to take over from Hannah on maternity leave and she’s doing her exams, and it’s really nice.

And it’s all about that as well: When you create a sitcom with your favorite characters, you need a sort of nemesis, and in Derek, my nemesis was the outside world. And people came in and were infected by kindness. So it’s like, I sneak in a little bit of that fairy tale parable where goodness wins.

Yeah, that’s how I felt about the show: People came into Broad Hill cynical, and they left a little kinder.
Yeah. I remember, was it George Bush who said he wanted the American family to be more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons? Well, I think I’ve sort of fused the two. It’s The Waltons with a depraved, perverted alcoholic in their midst.

You mentioned that a bit of your reputation for not being very nice comes from the Golden Globes. You’ve been an observer for the past few years, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting. Do you ever feel like Tina and Amy get away with taking swipes at celebrities that, if you said them, you’d be chastised for it?
Well, I don’t know. Maybe I did go further than them. It’s so subjective. I’ve always said, “Just because you’re offended, it doesn’t mean you’re right.” I stand by everything I said. I can justify it comedically; I can justify it morally. I certainly didn’t say anything that would have got the network in trouble. And let’s not forget, this was in primetime on network television.

I also think maybe I was the first to do it, so it surprised them. I turned a schmooze-fest into a roast, and I made that conscious decision, you know? I was shocked by the reaction — if the reaction’s true, because I think it only takes one journalist to say, “controversial, etc. etc.,” and everyone says that. And if I say it’s not controversial, they say, “Denies controversy!” I can’t win.

But, you know, what did I really do? They weren’t a roomful of wounded soldiers. I teased some of the most privileged people in the world. They’re winning awards. I made the conscious decision: Do I pander to 200 people in the room, or the 200 million people watching at home? No, there’s no contest. It’s like, they’re not winning the awards, you know?

It’s not a spectator sport, and I tried to make it one. I think people came around by the third one, and all the people that might have groaned if that was their first time suddenly went, “Oh, I get it, he’s just making jokes. He’s not trying to undermine the moral fabric of America. He’s trying to make us laugh.”

And I understand you’re reprising the role of David Brent from The Office in a new movie. Can you preview that for us?
Yeah, it’s called Life on the Road, and it’s The Office 12 years after, and it looks at what David Brent’s doing now. He’s selling toilet products up and down the country. You find out what happened to him after The Office, the aftermath of that, what he’s gone through.

And you also find out that he hasn’t really let the dream of being a rock star go, which is even funnier now, because now he’s not a 40-year-old in an office playing the guitar, talking about when he was trying to be a pop star. Now he’s 50-something, and he’s spending his hard-earned cash on putting a band together who are just sort of basically exploiting him.

He’s trying to get gigs for an A&R man to come along and sign him, because he’s seen people that turned their life around on talent shows — which has been ten years now of everyone wanting to be famous, more than Andy Warhol could have ever imagined the world being. Soon, we’re not going to have any doctors. You’re going to fall in the street having a heart attack and people around are saying, “I’m a singer, I can sing, I want to be a singer.” You’re like, “No, get me a doctor.” There aren’t many doctors; we’re all singers

We’re all trying to be famous.
We’re all trying to be famous. So he’s in this world now where he thinks he can crack it, you know? And obviously, he thinks that this latest documentary, the continuing saga of David Brent, is like Scorsese making a film with The Rolling Stones. But actually, it’s a “where are they now” file, and he finds that out, and it’s tragic. And the more he tries, the more sad it is and desperate and… yeah, it’s excruciating and very funny.

The Derek special premieres Friday, April 3 on Netflix.