Finlay Mackay for TIME

I'm not sure why Ricky Gervais' sort of humor is so popular, but I don't worry about it. I remember the first time I met him  I thought he was going to be trouble. He walked in with Steve Merchant, and they reminded me of that film Twins, with Arnie and Danny DeVito.

Is Ricky influential? I'll think about that the next time he's wrestled me to the ground to squeeze my head. He's opened doors for me, but not in a good way. He opens the locks on toilet doors with a coin when I'm using them. Me calling Ricky, 48, influential would be like Einstein's mam calling Einstein a genius. I doubt she ever did. I bet she just said she was proud of him but wished he'd comb his hair.

Pilkington co-stars on the animated HBO series The Ricky Gervais Show

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