Matt Lucas: 'I had no hair, asthma and was gay. School was tough'

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Edited on 01/06/2016 at 09:39

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We asked the actor Matt Lucas, 42, what his younger self would think if he could see him now...

When I was a boy, there were three things I thought I might do. The dream was to be a stage actor doing serious theatre in the RSC or the West End, where everybody thought I was marvellous and praised me for “revolutionising acting”. This wasn’t inspired by any particular experience – just ego.

The other dreams were to work in a school as a drama teacher, or in a children’s foster home. But I also quite wanted to be a painter and decorator. I thought that looked like a great job. As a kid you always want to make your mark, don’t you? At nursery school I’d spend my lunchtimes painting the outside wall with water and a paintbrush, perfectly happy.

The feeling of celebrity was something I knew as a child, oddly enough. When I was six, my hair fell out because of alopecia. Everyone knew me and would remember me even if they’d only met me once before, because I was the bald kid. Sometimes they looked at me with sympathy, or mocked me – and then I realised I didn’t want to be known just for having no hair. I wanted something a bit more fun going on.

I wasn’t a winner in the classroom and I found school – Haberdashers’ [an independent boys’ school in Elstree, Hertfordshire] – tough. My dad had been in prison; my parents were divorced; I had no hair, asthma and I had also realised I was attracted to other guys. Life felt pretty uncertain. But weirdly when I was on stage I was more relaxed and in control. I felt at home there. I had nerves, but they were healthy ones: all I wanted to do when faced with a stage was sing, dance, run around and show off. Shameless, really.

When I was 13, I started improvising a bit in the school play (it was called The Roman Invasion of Ramsbottom, and I was a character called Accrington Stanley) to make the audience laugh, and really enjoyed myself. Probably more than the audience, to be honest. We took the play to the Edinburgh Festival, and then I got a role in the West End at 14. At 16 I auditioned for the National Youth Music Theatre and met David Walliams, who was 19. It all just happened.

My parents were always supportive, although the deal was that as long as I went to university, I was allowed to be an actor. I did go, and then left after two years when I was getting TV opportunities, which worried Mum. But I was always very driven by the sense that life is short – let’s crack on and get stuff done. Luckily, Dad also took the view that university could wait: TV couldn’t. From then on, David and I always had something going on and it never felt like work. There was just one six-week period in 1998 when we stopped for a bit. After about two weeks we spoke on the phone and agreed we were going mad, so we got together and wrote the show that became Little Britain.

I think my younger self would have been less surprised by the way my career turned out than my life. I suppose I got some stuff out of my system – some anger that I worked out on stage. Bob Mortimer saw me perform in the Comedy Club when I was 18, which was for me the equivalent of a musician having John Lennon in their audience, and he later said in an interview that I was the angriest man he had ever seen.

I’m more at peace with who I am now and I no longer feel that the stage is the vital means of expression that it once was, even though I still love what I do. The seven-year-old Matt would be very surprised that the adult me could be gay, could be out, could have had relationships and all that. He’d also be amazed that I can go to Arsenal games whenever I want.

I still feel a bit like that little boy inside: I still watch The Muppets and, the other day, I had a bag of Monster Munch. The young me would be incredibly disappointed that I haven’t yet been on Coronation Street or bought one of those fairground coin-pusher machines. I should probably crack on and buy one. But I think I was a good deal more mature when I was young than I am now. Aged four, the first 'joke’ I ever wrote was: “Why did the car drive into the water?” “Because it wanted to get itself wet!” I told it to everyone and laughed heartily every time, and of course everybody laughed back. I still think it’s the best joke I’ve ever written.

Telegraph

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Naifris5068

24/05/2016 at 03:22

Naifris5068

Last activity on 24/05/2016 at 02:59

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amacuait

Matt Lucas: 'I had no hair, asthma and was gay. School was tough' https://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/other-discussions/news-from-the-media/matt-lucas-i-had-no-hair-asthma-and-was-gay-sc-1036 2016-05-24 03:22:42

Peacouploas443

01/06/2016 at 09:39

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Peacouploas443

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Hi Matt, I enjoyed hearing about your life and how you overcame the problems you had. It's very encouraging for those like me whose life can be a constant struggle.

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T. Clark

Matt Lucas: 'I had no hair, asthma and was gay. School was tough'

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