Funny guy
Peter Serafinowicz says finding humour in odd places is his ultimate goal – even when he’s starring in a crime thriller
Rii Schroer / eyevine
- Gabriel Tate
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Speaking to Peter Serafinowicz can come as a bit of a shock – it’s not his height (his 6ft 4in frame doesn’t quite translate over a Zoom call) or the unexplained plaster on his nose, but what he sounds like. The 54-year-old long ago accepted his voice was more famous than his face, but even then it’s rarely “his” voice.
You may have heard a version of it on adverts or computer games; as the smug, plummy BBC presenter of Look Around You, the impeccably silly spoof science show conceived with Friday Night Dinner creator Robert Popper; as snarling Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; bloated blustering as endearingly hapless lawyer-turned-entrepreneur Brian Butterfield; or offering a lilting Terry Wogan so accurate that the great man invited him on to one of his final Radio 2 shows. Most recently, he gave his best Afrikaans English as vain property mogul Johannes in Amandaland.
But on a video call from home in north London, where he’s thoughtful and enthusiastic, with a childishly naughty giggle that erupts frequently, Serafinowicz has a soft Scouse accent adjacent to that of his latest character in the slick, twisty heist thriller Hit Point.
Peter Serafinowicz with Lucy Punch in Amandaland. BBC
Serafinowicz is best known for gracing most of the best British comedies of the last 25 years (and a few American classics, too) from I’m Alan Partridge and Shaun of the Dead to Little Britain and The IT Crowd, via South Park and Parks and Recreation, so Hit Point could feel like an outlier were it not for the sharp, witty dialogue from series creator Howard Overman of Misfits fame.
“It turned out to be even more exciting than I anticipated,” says Serafinowicz, who plays an ex-police officer involved in the investigation of a £10m heist. “All the car chases and robberies felt like we really did them – it felt old-fashioned in that way. Playing a drama is mostly a matter of tone, like it is with comedy – what’s the reality of this thing? We had a brilliant laugh.”
And this, it turns out, is his priority – throughout our conversation, his mind turns to how to extract humour from the most unpromising material. He recalls, whimpering with mirth, struggling to break the news about 9/11 to a deeply sceptical Keith Allen and Kate Robbins, with whom he had spent the morning filming and “making stupid jokes”. He later has me roaring with laughter as he justifies putting apple juice on his cereal – “something started to seem unnatural about squeezing a cow’s teat onto my cornflakes… although I do eat cheese.” And then he recalls watching videos of the 1979 General Election broadcast to unwind after marathon writing sessions with Popper: “There were points we believed Labour had a chance of getting in, despite all the subsequent evidence. Such a happy memory – I look forward to watching it together again.”
Shows that make fun of Mr Important have always tickled me
Serafinowicz grew up in working-class Liverpool suburbs, the son of a scaffolder and sewing teacher. At school he was “a floater, not in any kind of category”, while home was a happy place: his sister Helen was part of the team that created both Motherland and Amandaland, while his brother James has written for and produced shows such as Brass Eye
“We just all liked to be funny,” he recalls. “We watched Monty Python, Spike Milligan, Only Fools, Alexei Sayle… Shows about not following rules and making fun of Mr Important always tickled me, and my mum especially appreciated the value of that. If I can make my kids laugh [he has two teenage children with former partner Sarah Alexander], that’s the best laugh, right? They’re both mimics and a lot funnier than me.”
This seemingly genetic gift for mimicry has led him to further consider the ADHD diagnosis he had in his early 40s that, he says, has helped make sense of a life in which creativity, procrastination, a low boredom threshold and above all versatility (he has also directed pop videos, toured with Brian Eno and fronted Million Dollar Secret, a Traitors-style game show for Netflix) were familiar companions. He is about to start a podcast with Josh Berry, a fellow mimic with ADHD, to interrogate both the art of impersonation and “whatever ADHD is beyond a collection of behavioural traits. People who are mimics tend to be a bit batty.”
His most high-profile impersonation of late came in May, when he was recruited to play Nigel Farage for the opening episode of Saturday Night Live UK. “That was a real thrill, although I didn’t realise what it really meant until I got there. I’ve done Comic Relief a couple of times, and this was like doing that every week. I was in awe. It has renewed my faith in British comedy on TV.”
Leo (Nick Blood) with Dylan (Moe Bar-El) and Carter (Serafinowicz). U&Dave
His good cheer only falters when we come to Donald Trump. His “Sassy Trump” voiceovers went viral in 2016, but has Trump simply stopped being funny now? “I think comedians have started to realise that perhaps satire doesn’t do anything. Trump has redefined how people have made fun of politicians for thousands of years, because you can’t exaggerate his outrageous traits for full comic effect – every trait is already exaggerated to 450 per cent. He’s realised that he can kind of do anything and, as long as he keeps the momentum up, there’s no consequences.”
But then he starts to cackle as that comic brain comes to the boil once more. “I’d love to recast The West Wing with Trump and his whole cabinet of Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth as principled, decent politicians. That would make me chuckle, as that era has gone.”
Serafinowicz has also been a reliable turn in franchises including Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars, even if the experience of the latter was a letdown: “I was a huge Star Wars fan and then I was quite disappointed when it came out, and now the whole thing has been so oversaturated…” Still, his fleeting appearance threatened to steal an otherwise underwhelming end product, as it often has.
Those projects where he has taken the lead, meanwhile, haven’t always found the audience they deserved: his performance in Amazon’s quirky superhero show The Tick was widely praised but only lasted two series, while the BBC cancelled his eponymous 2007 sketch show after one. “I was kind of annoyed and got into a grump about it not being recommissioned. Harry Enfield says sketch shows are a young man’s medium, but I had the best time doing it and those characters live on online.”
One series likely to avoid premature canning is looming into focus. Alongside a guest spot in Greg Davies’s Christmas special of The Cleaner and more of his live deepfake Elvis tribute show – “I’m singing my socks off, doing the songs for real” – comes HBO’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. While Rik Mayall’s cinematic take on Peeves, Hogwarts’ mischievous poltergeist, never made the cut, Serafinowicz has no concerns. “We have eight hours to devote to each book, so they’ve written a story for Peeves that goes through all the books. It’s one of the funniest scripts I’ve ever read.”
And that, he concludes, is the whole point. “If I can make people laugh, that’s my job description.”
High octane
A heady mix of drama and comedy give Hit Point added bite, say thriller’s co-stars
Saffron Hocking as Bella in Hit Point. U&Dave
Hit Point is an action-packed thriller with a touch of romance, and it’s also U&Dave’s first original scripted drama. At its centre are detectives Leo and Bella, played by Saffron Hocking and Nick Blood...
What drew you to this project?
Saffron Hocking The series creator Howard Overman.
Nick Blood I thought you would say me!
SH Well, you weren’t in the script at the time. I’ve always been such a huge fan of Howard’s work. Misfits was such a formative show for me growing up and wanting to become an actress. Then reading it and seeing the mix between high octane drama and humour – it was brilliant.
NB What stuck out for me was the dialogue. He makes things feel real and unique at the same time.
SH And it’s all undercut with this absurd humour.
Tell us a bit more about Leo and Bella
SH They’re London detectives navigating the criminal underworld. But there’s also a relationship between them bubbling under the surface.
NB They’re outliers within their profession. Your typical cop show is quite po-faced – you know, furrowed brows detective work. Whereas, in that environment they would be drawn to each other like magnets. But they’re colleagues and can’t cross that boundary.
What was Peter Serafinowicz like to work with?
SH We keep saying, ‘We’re obsessed with him, we love Peter so much.’ But we do! His character is so cool – and hot!
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NB He is. That quiff! He’s perfectly cast in it and he’s great to have on set. Some comedy actors can be quite cutting, but Peter couldn’t be further from that. He brings
so much joy and positivity. JAMES HIBBS
Authors
Gabriel Tate
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