Alison Steadman (Pam) and Larry Lamb (Mick)
Alison: I first got to know Ruth Jones and James Corden because they were both in Fat Friends, and I played Ruth’s mum in that, so I’ve known her for quite a long time – about six years. The part of Pam was actually written for me, which was really nice... apparently they didn’t really consider anyone else for the role.
It’s great that James and Ruth have got this well-deserved opportunity to write their own sitcom. The characters they’ve created are really real – they’re not just ‘comedy characters’, they’re real people. It’s great to have Ruth and James appearing in the show as well - it makes it better, creating a harmonious atmosphere and it allows them to throw in bits and pieces of tips and advice: "Oh, we didn’t mean it like that – we meant it like this!" As we trust them and like them, it’s all done in a really creative way and helps to make the programme better.
Larry: Gavin & Stacey has got a very broad base in terms of its appeal – it’s not specifically geared towards young or old people – it crosses the lot. It’s very realistic because the show’s about different generations of people living together. It’s well thought-through and brilliantly written – and it’s a great thing to look at something you’ve been involved with and feel really proud of it.
Melanie Walters (Gwen) and Rob Brydon (Bryn)
Melanie: I’d had a break from acting for quite a while, and it was such a joy that the first thing back for me was Gavin & Stacey – I’m glad I’m back in the business now! Everyone in the cast and crew got on so well. We’ve kept in touch by text, and we’ve done little bits and pieces together since we finished filming. I’ve done a little guest spot on Rob’s Annually Retentive, and I’ve just discovered that Larry Lamb’s off to work at the Cottesloe Theatre at the National, so I’ll be going to see him there!
Rob: I’ve known Ruth since we were at school together! She was in Human Remains with me, and I know James because about five years ago I did a sci-fi spoof called Cruise of the Gods with him, in which he played by son. Ruth kept me informed right the way through the production process that there was this character coming up, Uncle Bryn, that they’d really like me to play – and the bonus is that they’re really great scripts.
Writers Ruth Jones (Nessa) and James Corden (Smithy)
Ruth: For logistical reasons, although the show was set half in Essex and half in Wales, we filmed it all in and around Barry Island. And I loved it! Our director of photography has done an amazing job of making the whole place look so beautiful.
It’s not a 'sitcom' as such really. The problem is, I don’t know what to call it! It’s very moving as well – as you watch the characters more and more, you sympathise with them, and by the end of the series, there’s a lot of heart-wrenching in there. It’s very moving! So therefore I don’t know what the right genre to label Gavin & Stacey with is! People who’ve seen it have been really generous and positive about it – it’s just that it’s hard to say exactly what the show actually is..!
James: Writing Gavin & Stacey is such a dream come true. You always hope that when you get to have your first comedy show go in front of the cameras that it’ll live up to your expectations, and it definitely did. I've never felt such a feeling of unity on a set as I did on Gavin & Stacey – there was such trust between the crew and the actors. We've got an unbelievable cast and a great director and director of photography. With people like that on board, you’re halfway there already really.
Ruth and I first met on Fat Friends. One day in between filming I had this idea - all of my real-life girlfriend's family are from Barry Island, and we went to this wedding. It was one of those weddings where you don't know many people, so we just sat in the corner and watched the whole event go by. I sort of thought, "I don’t think anyone's ever shown a real wedding on TV – one that's like the ones I've been to." So that’s where the idea came from. I spoke to Ruth, and we both talked about it and thought that it sounded like it could be a good idea for a comedy. In fact, a friend of mine called Gavin met his now wife after speaking to her on the phone at work! They got married last year – and that was another seed of an idea that got meshed into the wedding thing.
All the best stories are the simplest ones. Ultimately this is just a love story, with two people who love each other deciding they want to spend the rest of their lives together. There's so much drama in the world anyway, so you don't really need to add extra drama to comedies in order to make them work – just look at
The Royle Family and, to some extent, The Office. As soon as you start changing the reality of how people actually are in order to get the gags, that's when things start to feel false, like those sitcoms we’ve all seen.
We chose Barry Island and Essex specifically because they’re both areas just outside the big cities of Cardiff and London, but areas that have definitely got their own strong identities and their own language too. It’s like a bit of a TV mafia down in Wales now, actually – so many people are filming there. Our trucks would turn up in Cardiff just as Doctor Who’s trucks pulled away, with Torchwood’s due in the day after!
Mathew Horne (Gavin) and Joanna Page (Stacey)
Mathew: Making Gavin & Stacey is probably the best shoot I’ve ever been on, by a long way – not just because of the people who were involved, but also because of the material we were given to work with. And the relationship that I built up with James fell into place straight away. As soon as we got to start filming, we became best mates. In fact, we started writing together and we’ve just had a pilot episode commissioned!
The calibre of actors in this show is like nothing I’ve ever worked on before. I mean, Alison Steadman is my mum for God’s sake! In terms of the ‘core four’ – me, James, Jo and Ruth – we were really tight right from the beginning. I think there’s some really good chemistry between me and Jo that came through in the casting. I’m really really proud of it, and I don’t want to say too much in case it jinxes things, but I’ve got a really good feeling about Gavin & Stacey...
Joanna: In episode 6, the wedding, it's just exactly how I’ve heard other weddings in the past. The language is so natural, the characters are just like ones I’ve seen in my own family, so when you’ve got a script like that it can't help but feel more realistic than other shows.
When I saw the scripts, I said to myself, "Oh, I have to get this, because she’s me!" If the programme had been made with someone else playing Stacey, I’d have been gutted! Honestly, she honestly is really like me. I’ve been watching some of the episodes back, and the language and everything they’ve given Stacey to do – it’s been a bit uncanny really! It’s going to be very strange for my family to sit down and watch it!
