Stephen Merchant in HBO's 'Hello Ladies'
"My comedy hero? Woody Allen . Woody Allen was the first person I'd seen who seemed to combine slapstick with big ideas. Especially in his early movies, which had big ideas about relationships and existential questions. I'd never seen that before. That you could be silly, be funny and talk about something legitimate.
"He remains an inspiration for me.
"I've met him to shake his hand. I don't know what he's like to have a conversation with, I imagine it's quite bizarre.
"Would I like to work him? Of course! I'm waiting for that call.
"There's a guy called Jason Reitman, he does this thing in LA where he has actors read out movie scripts on stage, almost like a radio play. They're never recorded, they're just this one-off thing. I once saw this great all-black actor version of Reservoir Dogs with Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jnr, it was really great. They asked me to do Manhattan. I did the Woody Allen role, but not as Woody Allen, just as myself.
"Honestly, it was the best thing I've ever done. I'm not going to lie to you. I was f**king excellent. The reason was that I've been waiting for someone to say, 'Can you be Woody Allen in Manhattan?' since I saw that film. I've been preparing for that moment since I was a teenager.
Watch a clip of Woody Allen in Manhattan:
"Part of me was hoping that Woody Allen's people would be there, see it and say, 'We need this guy to be in the next Woody movie'. That call never arrived unfortunately."
Stephen Merchant's Hello Ladies starts tonight (October 16) at 10pm on Sky Atlantic.
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