Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, and writer. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series The Office (2001–2003), and co-writer, co-director, and co-star of both Extras (2005–2007) and Life's Too Short (2011–2013) alongside Ricky Gervais. With Gervais and Karl Pilkington, he hosted The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook, and television formats; the radio version won a bronze Sony Award. He also provided the voice of the robotic "Intelligence Dampening Sphere" Wheatley in the 2011 video game Portal 2. Merchant co-developed the Sky One travel documentary series An Idiot Abroad (2010–2012) and co-created Lip Sync Battle (2015–2019).
Stephen Merchant
- Comedian
- actor
- director
- presenter
- writer
1997–present
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Merchant has performed as a stand-up comedian, which led to him writing and starring in the HBO series Hello Ladies (2013–2014), based on his stand-up material. He starred in his first play, Richard Bean's The Mentalists, at London's Wyndham's Theatre in 2015. He wrote and directed the films Cemetery Junction in 2010 and Fighting with My Family in 2019, and starred in, co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed the comedy crime series The Outlaws (2021–present). He also appeared as the mutant Caliban in the superhero film Logan (2017), a Nazi Gestapo leader in the comedy-drama film Jojo Rabbit (2019), and as the serial killer Stephen Port in the 2022 television drama Four Lives.
He has received numerous accolades, including a Peabody Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four British Comedy Awards, and the Rose d'Or.
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Merchant began his career performing stand-up comedy at Bristol's Comedy Box, where, he recalled: "The first week I did really well. The second week I died on my arse. I realised that stand-up was not that easy after all."[10] He also appeared as a contestant on a 1997 episode of the TV game show Blockbusters[11] and worked for a short time as a DJ for Radio Caroline.[3]
Merchant met Ricky Gervais for the first time in 1997 when Gervais (in the position Head of Speech at the radio station XFM London), hired Merchant as his assistant.[12] Gervais later said that he had called Merchant for an interview because it was the first CV handed to him. Merchant and Gervais hosted a Saturday afternoon radio show together from January to August 1998, when both of them left XFM as it was bought by the Capital Radio Group. In the same year, Merchant was a finalist at The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards.[13]
Merchant worked for seven months at XFM 104.9. The Saturday show never had a large audience. Gervais said: "It's a tinpot radio station... It's not even the biggest radio station in the building." He created the features 'Hip Hop Hooray', 'Make Ricky Gervais Laugh' and 'Song for the Ladies'. After leaving XFM, Merchant began a production course at the BBC. As part of his coursework, he enlisted Gervais to perform in a 30-minute short film, "Seedy Boss", which became the earliest inspiration for their mock documentary The Office.[14] They collaborated on a sitcom pilot called Golden Years featuring a manager suffering a mid-life crisis. It aired on Channel 4's Comedy Lab series in September 1998,[15] but the show failed to find further success.
The Office and return to XFM[edit]
In mid-2001, BBC Two aired the first series of The Office, co-written and co-directed by Merchant and Gervais and starring the latter as paper sales office manager David Brent; the show initially received low ratings. Beginning in September 2001, Merchant and Gervais returned to XFM as co-hosts of The Ricky Gervais Show, another Saturday afternoon programme, which led to their fruitful relationship with producer Karl Pilkington.[12]
They took a break from the radio show in mid-2002 in order to film the second series of The Office, which aired that year; in addition to writing and directing the show, Merchant made a cameo performance in the episode "Charity" as a friend of Gareth Keenan's character and known by the name Oggy or Oggmonster. Merchant's father also appeared in multiple episodes as an office handyman named Gordon. Merchant also directed a sitcom pilot called The Last Chancers, which aired on Comedy Lab in November 2002 and became a five-part series broadcast in December on E4.[16]
Merchant and Gervais continued to host The Ricky Gervais Show through 2003, taking another break to film The Office Christmas special, which aired that December. The radio show went off the air indefinitely in January 2004. During 2004, Merchant appeared in a recurring role as a chef on Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and in a cameo on Green Wing, and served as a script associate on the Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker sitcom Nathan Barley. The same year, The Office aired in the U.S. to critical acclaim. It went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy which both Merchant and Gervais accepted.[17] This was followed in 2005 by a 4th series of the radio show, consisting of six episodes.
U.S. series of The Office[edit]
In March 2005, the American version of The Office premiered, with Merchant and Gervais credited as executive producers. They co-wrote the third-season episode "The Convict", and Merchant directed the fifth-season episode "Customer Survey".[18]
Podcast series[edit]
In December 2005, with sponsorship by The Guardian, Merchant, Gervais, and Pilkington began recording a weekly podcast (also called The Ricky Gervais Show).[19] Throughout its first series (through 20 February 2006), it was consistently ranked the most popular in the world, and was certified as the most-downloaded of all time by Guinness World Records. Two more series and three special installments (the "Podfather Trilogy") were recorded in 2006, with the final episode released on Christmas Eve. In late 2008, they recorded four more podcasts and began a series of audiobooks examining Pilkington's perspective on various subjects.[20]
Extras[edit]
In July 2005, following a brief return of the XFM radio show (filling in for Adam and Joe), Gervais and Merchant's new sitcom Extras premiered on BBC Two. It features Merchant in a supporting role as Darren Lamb, the incompetent agent to struggling actor Andy Millman, played by Gervais. Series 2 of Extras aired in late 2006, followed by a Christmas special in December 2007; all three installments aired on HBO in the United States. Merchant won a 2006 British Comedy Award for Best TV Actor for his performance as Lamb,[21] and the series won a Rose d'Or for Best Sitcom in 2006[22] and a Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2008.[23]
Personal life[edit]
Since December 2018 Merchant has been in a relationship with American actress Mircea Monroe.[55][56] He lives in a home previously owned by Ellen DeGeneres in the Nichols Canyon area of Los Angeles.[57] He also owns a home in London.[58]
Standing 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) tall with a lanky frame,[59] Merchant once had his dance moves likened by Ricky Gervais to an "upright lizard being given electroshock treatment."[60] Gervais also described him as a "stick insect with glasses"[60] and Beaker from The Muppet Show.[61] Karl Pilkington described Merchant's dancing as a "bit of weird art"[62] but has since "got used to him", while Russell Brand likened him to a "graceful grasshopper".[63] Merchant has said that he prefers to liken himself to footballer Peter Crouch, who is the same height,[64] and he once impersonated Crouch in a BBC sketch broadcast as part of the pre-match build-up to England's quarter-final game against Portugal at the 2006 World Cup.[65]
Before the 2010 UK general election, Merchant was one of 48 celebrities who signed a letter opposing the Conservative Party's policy on the BBC.[66]
In December 2019, Merchant was the guest for an episode of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His book choice was Roger's Profanisaurus by Roger Mellie from Viz, his luxury item was a piano, and his chosen record was "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen.[67]