大象传媒

Johnny Vegas plays Moz

Fresh from his recent role appearing alongside Paul Whitehouse as removal man Charlie Doyle in 大象传媒 TWO's Happiness, Johnny Vegas now brings his talents to 大象传媒 THREE to play a small-time dope dealer called Moz in the new comedy series Ideal.

Moz has been dealing for several years from his small bedsit in Manchester which he shares with his girlfriend Nicki (Nicola Reynolds).

He deals only in the many varieties of marijuana and sees himself as providing a crucial service to the community.

"I think Moz is a dealer who has a bit of a conscience really," explains Vegas. "He's very strict in that he won't deal anything other than hash and weed, which doesn't make him very successful as a dealer.

"He doesn't seem to make much money from it and you don't see him with anything of value.

"I don't even think he enjoys it very much. Whenever there's a knock at the door and it's someone come to score, it always seems to be the last person Moz wants to see or speak to, but he has to let them in because that's his job.

"It's sad really because his customers are the only contact that Moz has with the outside world and he doesn't even like most of them."

Moz never sets foot outside the front door of his bedsit and seems to have no concept of keeping the flat tidy, which infuriates Nicki.

When she finds a rat running around their living room, it is the last straw and she goes to stay with a friend.

"I think Nicki does sort of love Moz," says Vegas. "But she likes a drink and we find out later that she's also having an affair which Moz is totally oblivious to.

"I think Nicki thinks that as long as she is with Moz that she has got someone to look down on!

"The flat that they live in is absolutely disgusting but Moz doesn't seem to care. It's quite funny though that Nicki will still tape Changing Rooms in the hope that one day they might make the flat nice!"

Moz also looks elsewhere for love but his advances are spurned.

"He falls for these two girls called Asia (Rebecca Atkinson) and China (Natalie Gumede), but they just use him to get drugs really.

"He has this set of rules and his number one rule is 'no cash, no hash' but when Asia and China turn up on his doorstep that all goes out of the window!"

Moz only deals to a group of around 20 or 30 friends and acquaintances, who are a collection of oddballs and misfits.

"One of my favourite characters is the childminder called Jenny (Sinead Matthews)," laughs Vegas. "She really is one sandwich short of a picnic! She's got the most mundane voice and if you had to talk to her for long, it would drive you mad.

"You can see that look of frustration in Moz's face when he's talking to her but he has to be nice to her because she's a client.

"And then there's Colin (Ben Crompton), who is on probation but always trying to sell Moz some stolen gear. But Moz refuses to have any knock-off gear in his flat.

"And the most surreal character is Cartoon Head, who is really hard but always wears a cartoon mask! James Foster who plays him was hilarious on set, he was always falling asleep between takes but because he had the mask on no-one could tell!"

Other characters include Brian (Graham Duff, who also wrote Ideal), a camp scally who seems to have a different boyfriend every time he visits; PC (Tom Goodman-Hill), Moz's chief supplier, and Kuldip (Ronny Jhutti), an Asian DJ and Moz's best friend.

The majority of these supporting characters were played by upcoming talent from across the north of England.

"I really enjoyed playing Moz," enthuses Vegas. "One of the things I like about him is his sarcasm. In some scenes he's very aware of what's going on around him and he can be very sarcastic, particularly to people like Jenny.

"And in other scenes he can be the butt of everyone else's jokes.

"He's not a bad bloke at heart but you certainly don't envy his life. In the same way that in Steptoe And Son, you love Albert and Harold but that certainly doesn't make you want to become a rag and bone man!"

Ideal is the first commission from the 大象传媒's Comedy Unit based in Manchester and was also filmed in Manchester.

Johnny is pleased to see more productions choosing to film outside of London.

"I'm always proud to spearhead any comedy development based in the North. I started out on the comedy circuit in the North West and I know how difficult it can be so it's great to see the Comedy Unit doing something to support the new comedy talent that is coming through."

Away from the world of acting you are most likely to find Johnny standing on the rugby league terraces cheering on his beloved St Helens.

"I've already bought my season ticket and I can't wait for the next season to kick off in February.

"The best thing about this year was definitely beating our rivals Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup Final in Cardiff - that was a good night!"

The other big love in Johnny's life is his 18-month-old son Michael who he dotes upon.

"Michael is absolutely fantastic," says Vegas proudly. "He really gives you a different outlook on life. He's definitely the most important thing in my life at the moment and I try to spend as much time with him as I can."