STEVE COOGAN

I wasn't a naturally confident, extravert, outgoing person.

There's something quite joyful about doing comedy which doesn't really need much analysis. I'm not elitist. I like to do crowd-pleasing stuff which is a bit smart, but is just about belly laughs.

Me, myself, personally, I like to keep myself private. I have never said I am a paragon of virtue, a model of morality. I simply do what I do.

Big comedy is good, I like things that are big, but good comedy has to be truthful I think and has to reflect some sort of reality.

I don't go to premieres, unless I'm contractually bound to.

I'm just attracted to playing people who are ostensible unlikable. That's not to say that there's something in there that makes you care. It might be that you just find them so awful that you just can't stop watching, like a car crash.

I've always been drawn to discomfort and that limbo of unease you get between comedy and tragedy.

If you start to disrespect the character you're playing, or play it too much for laughs, that can work for a sketch, it will sell some gags, but it's all technique. It's like watching a juggler - you can be impressed by it, but it's not going to touch you in any way.

I find impressionists slightly annoying, really.

I don't think I'm kind of universally known. I think in the indie world I'm probably better known than in some mainstream Hollywood terms.

If the person who can effectively sanction ill-conceived wars can play the electric guitar, which is a symbol of rebellion, then that whole worldview becomes confused.

Actually, bizarrely, in America, I get more appreciation from the odd, unusual stuff I've done, almost because I'm not, if you like, famous in America as I am in England.

I have never wanted to be famous, as such - fame is a by-product.

When you see a crowd of people jumping up and down at a pop concert, all gloriously in the moment, I don't think you'll ever see a comedian there. They'll all be standing at the sides, looking at how it all fits together.

I'm an entertainer. I don't go round saying I'm a paragon of virtue, so that is clearly not in the public interest.

As soon as I see period costume, I turn off. It's like hearing drama on Radio 4.

When I see friends from school I think they've all grown old and I've stayed the same.

I happen to have a public profile. Ditto newspaper editors. It's a result of what I do, not an end.

I like the transience of Klimt paintings.

The best feeling in the world is performing in front of a live audience who like what you're doing. I can understand why people become dictators just because of the thrill they get making the speeches.

My father worked for IBM. My mother raised us kids. There were six of us, and a couple of extra foster kids at any given time.

I did not become successful in my work through embracing or engaging in celebrity culture. I never signed away my privacy in exchange for success.

I used to do stuff at college. I could do voices. I could make some people laugh. I wasn't the class clown, but I knew I had this skill.

If you do something very successful, you will then be defined by it.

The trick is always to write in pairs because if at least two people find it funny, you've immediately halved the odds of it not being funny.