I do it for me. That’s it. That’s it.

“I do it for me and like-minded people. That’s it. That’s it. My career, I look at it in a Darwinian framework. I’m going to do exactly what I want, and I’m going to survive or I’m not. I’m not going to pander, I’m not going to change things, I’m not going to do focus groups. I’ll live and die by the sword. I don’t care. Because I couldn’t live with myself…Everything I’ve done has been existential. Everything, really. Everything is always about, ‘Am I living a good life? Am I making the most of my life?'”

— Ricky Gervais

Clips from GQ.com (Note “R” rated for vulgar language): Chris Heath on Gervais: “…I think there is a sense that someone who seemed like one of us, and on our side, may have slipped his moorings.”

Yet, here’s Gervais on his performance at the Golden Globes where he “clearly reveled in a self-appointed role as provocateur of, and truth teller to, the wealthy and overcoddled. ‘I’m the jester in the court of the kings there…Who am I meant to have a go at? The homeless? This wasn’t a roomful of wounded soldiers, this was a roomful of the most privileged people in the world who are about to win an award.'”

And here’s Gervais responding to the question that he’s cocky: “I think I’m a very sweet, considered man who worries about people’s feelings in real life, and I think I’m a performer. I go up there with a swagger, I take a deep breath, and I go, “All right, losers—who wants a piece of this?” That’s what I do. Do I like to annoy people? No, I don’t really, unless they’re friends and it’s funny.”

Gervais is in the midst of filming the next Muppets movie: “In terms of Hollywood, that’s arguably the biggest thing I’ve done. I’m the lead in a big film. I’ve been a bit part in a big film, and I’ve been the lead in small films.I’m laughing all day. I love the Muppets. Honestly, I get there in the morning and they go [he mimes the humans slipping their hands into their puppets] and I go [talking only to the newly animated Muppets] “All right?” It’s terrible. I wish they were real. I’m disappointed that I know there’s a man’s hand up there. Who doesn’t want a frog as a mate? Is that a weird thing to say? It is, isn’t it?

Gervais on animals: “I love animals. Growing up, the two things that made my blood boil were religious intolerance and animal cruelty. I’ve never understood it. I can’t stand to have an animal in pain. I’ve got to get it out of my head. It makes me angry, I want to cry, I want to stab someone. I don’t know where that comes from, really.”

“Ricky Dene Gervais, 51, was born in Reading, Berkshire, England.  He is an English comedian, actor, director, producer, musician, writer, and former radio presenter.  Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office Gervais has also starred in Hollywood films.  He has performed on four sell-out stand-up comedy tours.  He has written the best-selling Flanimals book series and starred in the most downloaded podcast in the world as of March 2009, The Ricky Gervais Show. More recently, he hosted the Golden Globe Awards consecutively between 2010 and 2012.  He won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards and the 2006 Rose d’Or, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2007 he was voted the 11th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 3rd greatest stand-up comic. In 2010 he was named on the TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people.  His Father was French Canadian (from Ontario) and his Mother was English.”  (Source: Wiki)

Credits: Quote – GQ Magazine via Explore.  Image – Mirror.co.uk