Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoadeis an English actor, comedian, writer, director and television presenter. He is best known as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd – for which he won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance – and as Dean Learner in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. He has directed films including Submarine, The Double, starring Jesse Eisenberg, and various music videos for bands including Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Kasabian...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth12 June 1977
CityLondon, England
I've only ever really been in shows of friends, so I don't know exactly what happened. I think I'm incredibly cheap to hire. That can buy some traction. I'm as cheap as it's possible for an actor to be legally.
Louis Malle is maybe one of my favorite directors, but I love Tarantino.
I find performing very difficult. It's difficult to be a good actor. I get very nervous, even though it sounds disingenuous, because you could legitimately go, 'Well, why do it?'
As in, I think 'Badlands' is one of the funniest films of all time: 'Every day I wish I was carried off to a magical land, but that never happened' is one of the funniest lines in any film.
I was directing before I started doing 'The IT Crowd.' It wasn't something that led on after acting I guess. I was sort of doing this stuff before acting.
I suppose I sort of like effects that have some organic elements rather than ones that are entirely generated by a computer. Just because, no matter how complex the algorithm is, it's still an algorithm.
I actually prefer night shoots to days. I prefer being up. It's easier for me. I'm more of a night person.
My parents didn't go to university and weren't brought up in England. They hadn't heard of any other universities other than 'Cambridge' or 'Oxford.'
I don't really know what my personality is anyway. I don't really have one.
I'm not sure I'd hire myself in anything. I certainly couldn't be an actor. That would be terrible. For everyone.
I like Roy Orbison's video for 'I Drove All Night' because it's so literal. It is just a man driving throughout the night. I like that silliness. To be in a video is a ridiculous thing. It's almost impossible to do it without any humour.
No. I really don't think I'm cool. I'm not.
As in, I think Badlands is one of the funniest films of all time: Every day I wish I was carried off to a magical land, but that never happened is one of the funniest lines in any film.
American television is very much created by the writers, just the volume of it. The writers are so key. You're just trying to do something that serves that script. And in general, film isn't all about the script, really.