16 Stephen Mangan Quotes

Stephen Mangan quotes

1. He walks a fine line. Obviously he is trying to be funny but a lot of the humour is because he is such a wally. You are laughing at him. When we filmed the first series, I expected to be regularly punched in the face by strangers in the street because he can be quite arrogant, although I like to call it self-confidence! I think he is misunderstood.

2. I once told Victoria about a girl telling me I reminded her of somebody famous. I always get mistaken for Jerry Seinfeld, Elliott Gould and Pete Sampras so I listed about ten people and she said, no, it's none of them, it's the donkey from Shrek! Now every episode has me being compared to the donkey from Shrek. I'm much more guarded now but I looked at a picture the other day of Camilla Parker Bowles, and her hairstyle and look are exactly like Julian (Rhind-Tutt). So that went in.

3. But on set it is Stephen Mangan, as the comic-grotesque Dr Guy Secretan, who emerges as the true star. With film roles in Festival and the forthcoming Confetti, it can't be long before he's up there with Coogan and Gervais. The rest of the cast are all straight actors, but Mangan is a brilliant improv performer who pushes the script to the very limit with his constant ad-libbing.

4. Green Wing

1. I didnt know any actors growing up. My dad was a builder, and we didnt know any arty types.

2. I watch films. I play the guitar: me and some mates - I wouldn't dignify it with the term band - get together and play.

3. Comedy is a very personal thing, and some people will find it funny, some people wont.

4. Comedy is a very personal thing, and some people will find it funny, some people won't.

5. I dont like to watch myself on screen because in my mind there is a touch of George Clooney about me, but when I see it, there is more than a little Donkey from Shrek about me.

6. I didn't know any actors growing up. My dad was a builder, and we didn't know any arty types.

7. I don't like to watch myself on screen because in my mind there is a touch of George Clooney about me, but when I see it, there is more than a little Donkey from 'Shrek' about me.

8. I watch films. I play the guitar: me and some mates - I wouldnt dignify it with the term band - get together and play.

9. Dad was a strict disciplinarian and would give us a wallop with a wooden spoon if we were out of order. But we really respected him - he didn't try to be our best friend.

10. My mother was gentle and warm. She was the sort of person you could really open up to. I was the eldest and her only boy, so I guess I was treated differently. She did bring me up as a Catholic, and at one time I was an altar boy, but I lost my faith, as did my father, when my mother died at 45.

11. When I was 13, I won a scholarship to boarding school. My parents let me choose whether to go, and I decided I wanted to. Afterwards, I went to Cambridge to study law - in a way, I was carrying the academic hopes of my family, as Mum and Dad left school at 14.

12. I had an inspirational teacher at my junior school: Peter Nixon. He was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and slightly scary - a good combination for a teacher.