Sick as a Partridge
Coogan gutted over Sellers role
Steve Coogan has revealed that he almost landed the part Peter Sellers in the new biopic – and was gutted when he lost out to Geoffrey Rush.
The Alan Partridge creator confessed: “I really wanted that part so badly.
“I loved the script. I did a whole day of screen tests and I think I did really well and the casting director told me I did.
“And then Geoffrey Rush came along and said, 'I want to do it,' and he's got an Academy Award and I haven't, and I was out of the picture.
“I don't mind admitting I was pissed off about that. Doing Sellers would have been special. It's not just because I've been compared to him. He's someone who fascinates me.”
In the interview with The Times to promote the much-slated Around The World In 80 Days, Coogan said he was more blasé about crtics these days.
“There’s what I call the critics' syndrome of 'I preferred his early stuff',” he said. “There are nerds who think that Partridge was the only decent thing I did and everything after that is a sell-out. It's an extreme view, but those people exist.
“What irritates me more than anything are the people who come up to me and say, 'I preferred you on Radio 4.' I want to punch them in the face.”
Published: 17 Jun 2004
