Actor and comedian Rob Brydon has said he was initially against the idea of playing a fictionalised version of himself in The Trip, but ended up enjoying it and thought it made viewers "more curious". The 61-year-old, known for his role as Uncle Bryn in Gavin and Stacey, stars alongside Steve Coogan in the comedy series as exaggerated versions of themselves. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, it follows the pair as they travel around the world and dine at different restaurants.
Brydon said he and Coogan originally thought the idea was "a bit passé" but eventually concluded that Winterbottom was right to suggest it. Speaking ahead of the series' season five premiere in London, Brydon said despite his initial hesitation, he enjoyed playing a heightened version of himself. "When [director Michael Winterbottom] first suggested it, we were both against the idea of playing versions of ourselves," he said.
"But in fact, as ever, Michael was right because it just gives the show... you're more curious about it. Is that how they really are?" Brydon, who grew up in Baglan, Port Talbot, is often seen engaging in competitive mimicry of famous actors, such as Michael Caine, Al Pacino and Hugh Grant, in the programme. "When we have a meal, it's not combative," Brydon said.
"We don't do impressions to each other, or if we did, we would never argue over that. It's all just for comic effect. "But then there are other times when I suppose [our characters] are pretty close to us.
"But you just do little tweaks and you do little extracts, so there'll be grains of truth. "We just exaggerate it until it becomes funny." The Trip has covered different locations through the years, with its first season in 2010 set across north England, while other instalments have included Italy, Spain and Greece. The latest season, titled The Trip to the Northern Lights, is set in Scandinavia, as the duo move from Swedish hotels to remote Norwegian fishing huts while searching for the aurora borealis.
Speaking of the weather conditions while filming, Brydon said "it wasn't that cold, apart from when we went into the Arctic Circle", adding that the scenes were "so breathtaking that you didn't mind the cold". Brydon previously said he and Coogan found themselves "stripped down" to their underwear "quite a lot" during filming, as the pair immersed themselves not only in dramatic scenery but also in Scandinavian traditions. "We also stripped down to our pants quite a lot," Brydon told The Times.
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