The comedy-drama is co-directed and written by Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and is a coming-of-age tale of three friends working in the insurance industry in the 70s.

“Him and Stephen called me up and asked me if I wanted to do it,” says Goode. “It’s to play the second in charge, underneath Ralph Fiennes who heads the company.

“We’re both quite devious in getting people to sign up. It was really fun.”

Goode said working with Gervais and Merchant, who famously teamed up on The Office and Extras, meant a lot of laughter on set.

“Those two are just hilarious characters… you’d think with having two directors there might be a bit of conflict, but it’s seamless.

“You know when you’re doing well because you can hear Ricky guffawing in the background.”

Gervais himself appears in the movie – as the father of one of the lead characters, and the movie is also set in Reading, where the comedian was brought up.

Goode is certain the “funny and moving” film will live up to the lofty expectations of Gervais and Merchant fans when it’s released in April.

“I think people will be surprised at just how competent and different it is,” he said.

Hobbit hopes

The 31-year-old, currently in cinemas alongside Colin Firth in A Single Man, has also just brought out a rom-com called Leap Year.

However, rumours that he doesn’t like the film are inaccurate said the actor: “You know how things get sometimes, they get a little twisted.”

He also revealed a rather different potential role – as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit (the ‘prequel’ to The Lord of the Rings), due for release in 2012.

Goode said it was nice to be asked to try out for such a high profile film, but that he wasn’t counting his chickens just yet.

“Everyone under the sun came in for that film as far as British actors are concerned. I’m six foot two, so I’m not holding my breath on that one!”

The Devon-born actor, who also appeared in last year’s adaptation of the Watchmen comics, said he didn’t have any plans to relocate to LA like some British actors.

Goode, who has a 10-month old daughter with his partner, is happy with life in the UK and admits he loves the English countryside.

He said he often escapes London for weekends away at the house of fellow actor Laurence Fox (Billie Piper’s husband).

Goode and Fox (from ITV’s detective series Lewis) are old friends and used to live together after they finished drama school.

“They have a little place in the countryside, so we often go down there for a nice long weekend and let the babies play together.”

“We have pub lunches and stuff, it’s really very civilised,” he laughs.

Leap Year is out in UK cinemas now. Cemetery Junction is due for release on 14 April.

Source: BBC Newsbeat

The British actor, who shot to fame in the 2009 superhero movie, admits he recently auditioned for the coveted role of young Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro’s two-part epic The Hobbit.

Other stars rumoured to be in the running include Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy and Spider-Man Tobey Maguire, who recently denied he has been approached to take the part.

But Goode is convinced his audition won’t be successful – because he is too tall to play the diminutive hobbit.

He says, “Look at the size of me, for Christ’s sake!”

Source: WENN

Did you feel a bit of a fraud being cast as the cleverest man in the world in Watchmen? There were many reasons I shouldn’t have been cast in that film and I think people were quite p***ed off. I’m lucky I don’t own a computer.

Really? No, I don’t have one. But trust me, the negative feedback was relayed quite well by friends of mine: ‘Oh my God, everyone hates you, man. It’s awesome.’ When I got there to start filming, all the artwork still had Jude Law’s face on it so I figured he was meant to be doing this but was too expensive. That was good for me.

Are superheroes your way forward now? I’m not built like that; I’m not really that leading man thing. I’m sure I’m more likely to end up playing a teacher on some sort of Rhodesian farm in the 1930s drinking gin Martinis. I hope so, actually, that will be quite fun.

Is your partner [Sophie Dymoke] in the business? No, she’s not, thankfully. She’s normal. Which is great. I don’t have to worry about her saying: ‘I’m just going off to do this film with Brad Pitt,’ and you read the script and it says: ‘She rides him frantically.’

Where did you find her? I was living in Clapham and she was on my doorstep when I came home. Literally. I thought: ‘F***ing hell!’. She was a friend of my neighbour.

If she’s normal, what are you? Fairly normal. As normal as actors can be, so I suppose in some ways a bit of a c***, but not too bad.

Were you excited to work with Woody Allen on Match Point? Well, I didn’t like the film that much. But working with Woody was great.

Would you like to work for Tom Ford, fashionista as opposed to first-time director? He definitely helped me today. My clothes are all in the wash.

Are you thrilled about Colin Firth’s Oscar nomination? One of the finest bits of acting I’ve seen in a while was Colin’s character getting this phone call about his partner Jim’s death. I find it incredibly moving. Colin has been a great actor since the beginning of his career but with this performance people are going to be surprised – which they shouldn’t be – that he’s a really terrific actor. For me, it makes a f***ing change being in a good film.

Do you like where you’re at in the fame game? I’m not particularly well-known in England, which is great because I don’t have someone with a camera outside my front door every morning like some of my friends. My take on it, though, is you can’t get p***ed off about people putting a camera in your face. You’ve got to deal with it because that’s what your job is.

So what do you and your famous friends do? Most of my friends can go and have a Sunday lunch at a pub in their local area and no one gives them any hassle because you sort of get looked after in your own pockets of London. I think most of the fame thing is a bit of a con, really. Some people really love the attention.

How did you prepare to play dad? I’ve cut my drinking down. And I’m going to spoil my daughter rotten but not so much that she turns into a spoiled little bitch. Her mum’s too wonderful a person to let that happen. I’m not, but she is.

Baby first, wedding later? Yes, mainly because I don’t have a pot to piss in at the moment and weddings can be quite expensive if you want to do it with all your mates rather than at your town hall.

What else? I don’t know. I never get the war movies. I’d love to get the war movies so you’re just with guys, drinking for six months. I’m always off ferreting around in a car trying to get into some woman’s pants, which is fun but it’s not the same.

Source: Metro.co.uk

Although the 50-year-old actor claimed Julianne Moore, who also stars in the film, was a “much better kisser”.

Firth plays a gay professor in the film struggling to cope with the death of his male lover (Goode) while Moore stars as his best friend.

“Julianne was a much better kisser,” he told Metro exclusively. “But I wasn’t supposed to be enjoying it.”

“That was the only time [director and fashion designer] Tom Ford had to get on my case because I was supposed to be playing a gay man and he told me to keep my hands to myself and keep my tongue out of her mouth,” he joked.

Firth has also been nominated for a Bafta for best actor and is being tipped to win an Oscar for his performance.

Asked about his chances of winning a golden statuette, he replied: “One in five.”

“God knows. I’m trying not to think about it. You don’t know how much you’ve vested in something until you have a disappointment.”

“Years ago when I had a Bafta nomination in my mid twenties I was very blase and I didn’t go because I was filming at the time. I lost. thought I was cool about it but I was absolutely shattered. I was astonished I was so shattered. I was very surprised.”

As for his sudden return to the limelight which saw him win the best actor prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival, Firth isn’t allowing himself to get caught up in the fame game.

“I’m getting on a bit and I’ve been up and down a few times. I’m too old to get swept away in it completely and I’ve had little enough experience of it to feel too jaded.”

“One thing that is very satisfying is that I’m being asked to do a lot more. It’s very gratifying.”

Firth, who made TV viewers swoon as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, claims he thought he looked “terribly boring” when he was younger.

“I remember thinking I could do with a wrinkle or two to get something interesting on this face. I thought I looked terribly boring.”

A Single Man is designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut and will be released in UK cinemas on February 12.

Source: Metro.co.uk