January 14, 2007: Orlando Bloom
The season premiere of
Extras opens on a promised star,
Orlando Bloom, in a scene that looks a lot like a British version of
The War of the Roses.
When the astonishingly good-looking, or so he thinks, Orlando Bloom finds out that Maggie doesn't think he is all that, he sets out to prove how attractive he is, and in the meantime dishes on
Johnny Depp. Orlando's best line? "
Willie Wonka - Johnny Wanker".
Andy has a crisis of identity when he realizes that the sitcom he wrote is not turning out the way he had expected. He is a man surrounded by complete idiots. His agent, Darren Lamb, the incomparable
Stephen Merchant, spends more time trying to get his protégé Barry, whose sense of dignity gets called into question, into Andy's role in the show than he does working with his other client. His friend Maggie doesn't remember that his show begins shooting that night, and his producers think big glasses are funny. The agent reminds me very much of Gareth from
The Office. Incidentally, Stephen was
Ricky Gervais' writing partner on
The Office. I think Darren may be my favorite character, as you can always count on him to come in at the worst moments and say the absolute most inappropriate things.
Andy's sitcom,
When the Whistle Blows, is horrible. What's worse is that Andy knows it. Andy becomes more and more unraveled as the replacement actor, Keith, can't deliver a simple line, can't find his mark and looks directly into the camera over and over again. Andy gives up completely only to find that not only can Keith not act, but he's a racist in more ways than one.
What's great about this show is that even though we are watching something awkward and at times uncomfortable, it works because we actually feel for the characters. I don't know about you, but I either want to dress just like Maggie and go have a pint with her, or get her on
Extreme Makeover. I can't decide. But, either way, I want to help her. She's so sweet and naive and daft and lovely.
Andy has a depth to him that comes only in small moments. I watched the show a second time just to get a sense of what was happening underneath the basic story line, and Ricky Gervais manages to emote on such a subtle level, you often miss it the first time around.
Maggie meets up with a snooty former extra (now an actress), who rubs in her good fortune, making Maggie feel like a loser. She finally gets her comeuppance when Orlando begs her to kiss him so that he can prove how sexy he is, and she finally complies, "If it's going to make you shut up." Orlando completes the kiss, and with her actress friend looking on, Maggie says, "Not my cup of tea." Orlando is left besotted, and the actress is left wishing he had kissed her.
I loved when Orlando talked about the lists in the magazines, especially the Top 10 Fantasy Snogs for women: He's No. 1 and JD is No. 4. How is that possible? Good for him for having a laugh at himself!
It was a little hard to watch Andy take off his glasses in the wings after his first scene, and hear
Cat Stevens, or Yusuf Islam, if you prefer, sing
Tea for the Tillerman.
This show is imbued with morsels of emotion, though they're rare. But I think it's a gem.
