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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

Robert Llewellyn

What made you want to get into comedy?

I have always made people laugh. I can't remember starting so I guess I must have been very young. It took me years to realise I could maybe make a living doing it. I didn't go onto a stage until I was 25, but I've never looked back.

Do you think there will be a new series of Red Dwarf?

I really don't know. There will be a movie, and if that's a success then I think there will be another movie. I know Doug hasn't ruled out the possibility of another series but I think movies are top of the list for him at the moment.

Do you have any fears or phobias?

I don't think I do. Can't think of any.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Read and dig my garden. Pretty boring. I also like spending time with my kids, but that's quite hard work.

What was the first ever joke you can remember?

What did the big chimney say to the little chimney? You're too young to smoke.

Where do you see the future taking you?

Hopefully to keep working, writing books, and one day, to play a really psychotically evil English baddy in an American shoot 'em up movie.

What was the first ever film you saw at the cinema and what impact did it have on you?

I think it was called '55 Days in Peking' a weird 50's war movie about the Boxer uprising in China around 1900. Just loads of Chinese people being machine gunned as they stormed the city walls. I was a bit young, but I think I liked it. Mary Poppins must have followed close behind which is still a favorite.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?

At the moment Kosovo, but that's for work. Maybe Laos, or China, or South America. Actually anyplace really.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

One brother, 3 years older, one sister 3 years younger.

How did you get into TV work?

Through appearing on the stage every night for nearly ten years. Eventually I imagine someone saw me and thought, 'hey, he's not so bad.'

Do you have any favourite comedians and TV programmes?

Steve Coogan, Eddie Izzard, Will Durst. I am a Smack the Pony fan. Loved Larry Sanders.

Many thanks to Robert Llewellyn for all of his help.

Copyright of Robert Llewellyn for for The "Ultimate Comedy" website (19/4/00)