Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
larry lambstar of gavin and staceyhas revealed that his initial audition for the role of Mick Shipman was not successful.
The actor admitted that director Christine Gernon had doubts, meaning the popular BBC The series could have taken a very different turn.
Despite a poor start, 78-year-old Lamb was called back for a second audition.
That’s when the advice of her then-fellow actress Claire Burt proved vital.
Using his guidance, Lamb managed to impress Gernon, eventually securing the role of Mick – father of Matthew Horne’s Gavin and husband of Alison Steadman’s Pam – in what has become one of the country’s most iconic sitcoms.
“I did it and he said, ‘Why are you doing that? Why are you playing that character?’,” Lamb said of Burt.
“This character is you, just be you, you go out there and you basically lose your job because you’re pretending to be someone you’re not.
“She said they were a really happy, upper-working-class family, representative of working-class Britain.
“Their life together is great, they absolutely love each other, and they have great sex – just be the same person.
“So I went in, and I was that guy and I got the job because that’s just the way it is, that’s me and I’m that.”
Lamb was speaking at an event at the Cheltenham Literature Festival with his son George to promote his first novel, All wrapped up.
Watch Apple TV+ for free for 7 days
New customers only. £9.99/month. After the free trial. Plan to automatically renew until canceled.
Advertisement. If you sign up for this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism at The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ for free for 7 days
New customers only. £9.99/month. After the free trial. Plan to automatically renew until canceled.
Advertisement. If you sign up for this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism at The Independent.
he asked for his second gavin and stacey At the audition, he recorded scenes with Steadman.
“They were looking for chemistry between the two of us that would work,” he said.
“Suddenly I was into this thing that has become this. It literally changed my life and changed all their lives.”
Lamb said that after the first series of Gavin and Stacey, He had not yet been given a contract for a second series and was offered the role of the villain Archie Mitchell. EastEnders.
“They reached the point where gavin and stacey was going on, and it caused all kinds of chaos because he had to do something he never did, and I could do both,” Lamb said.
“The boss of the BBC, her name was Jay Hunt, she knew they had a little gold gavin and stacey So as far as he was concerned eastenders Will face.
“I was really lucky because there was a time years ago, if it had happened, you would have had to choose one option or the other.”
gavin and stacey Three series were broadcast between 2007 and 2010, based on the lives of Essex-born Gavin and his Welsh wife Stacey and their friends and family.
It then returned for a Christmas special in 2019 and a finale last Christmas.
The final episode saw Neil “Smithy” Smith, played by co-writer James Corden, finally decide to marry Vanessa “Nessa” Jenkins, played by fellow co-writer Ruth Jones, after leaving Sonia (Laura Aikman) at the altar.
One of Lamb’s scenes in the previous episode, where Smithy asks Sonia for her opinion before deciding not to marry him, was nominated for a 2025 BAFTA Memorable Moment award.