Ricky Gervais has revealed that Kate Winslet was the only celebrity to object to her scripted lines on the sitcom Extras, which he co-created with Stephen Merchant. The show, which ran for two series from 2005, featured A-list actors playing exaggerated versions of themselves.
In her episode, Winslet's character was filming a Holocaust drama titled Sisters of Mercy, in which she played a nun sheltering Jews. The script included a scene where her character gives explicit phone sex advice to the show's lead, Maggie Jacobs, and makes lewd gestures behind her boyfriend's back. Gervais told The Telegraph that Winslet refused to say some lines she deemed 'particularly offensive', though she was otherwise 'game for it'.
Gervais noted that it was 'surprisingly easy' to get celebrities to agree to the often risqué material. Only two famous faces turned down the opportunity: comedian Syd Little and ventriloquist Keith Harris, who thought the show was a prank. Gervais reflected that the series was ahead of its time, before social media revealed that 'celebrities are just like us. They're idiots!'
