Steve Coogan is a British actor and comedian best known (to me) for Philomena (which co-wrote and produced) and his character acting in movies like Night at the Museum and Tropic Thunder. He’s worked consistently for decades and he’s known as a talented working-class guy who moves easily from dramas to comedies. Well, Coogan is currently promoting his role as Jimmy Savile in the BBC’s The Reckoning, and he spoke to the Off Menu podcast. He ended up blasting the Windsors and their supporters.
Fans of the Royal family are flag-waving idiots, Steve Coogan has said. The actor, best known for his role as Alan Partridge, accused royalists of supporting a “power structure” that holds back working-class people. He said he thought the late Queen Elizabeth II was “alright”, but believes the other members of the family are “problematic”.
Speaking on the Off Menu podcast, he said: “Most people who are into [the Royal family] are flag-waving people who, I think, are kind of idiots because they support a power structure that keeps a foot on the throat of working-class people and I’m just not really keen on that type of people. But having said that, the Queen worked very hard so she was alright – the rest of them, they’re problematic for me.”
His comments come months after the King’s Coronation was watched by more than 18 million people across the country. Thousands lined the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the King on the day, with some royalists turning up a week early in order to secure their spot.
Coogan, who portrays Jimmy Savile on BBC drama The Reckoning, said he was “a bit torn” on the King. He added: “I do like King Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall produce even though I am an anti-monarchist. It’s interesting because I buy that stuff and I go ‘I don’t like having a Royal family but I do like his produce’ so I feel a bit torn.”
To be fair, I’ve heard that the Duchy Originals food line is pretty good quality, but that’s hilarious. “I hate the monarchy but the king does make a good biscuit so I’m torn up about it.” As for the rest of it, yeah, I agree – stop supporting your oppressors, stop being sycophantic towards these tax-dodging, elitist, shallow-gene-pool freaks. The Telegraph’s huffiness about how many people watched the coronation is particularly hilarious too, given that the coronation had significantly fewer viewers than QEII’s funeral and Diana’s funeral.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
-
- Steve Coogan attends the Virgin Media British Academy TV Awards in 2019 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England. 12th May 2019. -,Image: 512928702, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Warren / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
-
- Steve Coogan at the ‘Greed’ premiere, BFI London Film Festival, UK – 09 Oct 2019,Image: 539106912, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: B2820 / Avalon
-
- Steve Coogan on the Liberal Democrats campaign trail in Lewes, East Sussex with the prospective Liberal Democrat candidate Oliver ‘Oli’ Henman on 8 December 2019.,Image: 541132386, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Lee Floyd / Avalon
-
- Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan at the SKY TV, Up Next Event at Tate Modern in London, England. Wednesday 12th February 2020. -,Image: 563575474, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Warren / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
-
- UK premiere of The Lost King at the Ham Yard Hotel, central London. Featuring: Steve Coogan Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 26 Sep 2022 Credit: Ian West/PA Images/INSTARimages./Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
I recommend watching Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story.
Cosigned.
All in favor!
Also, Hamlet 2 and The Trip films
He’s a brilliant actor
Watch ’24 Hour Party People’! About the rise of the Madchester rave culture and The Factory. Great film and Coogan is amazing in it!
He’s absolutely right except for the belief that the Queen worked hard. She spent most of the year at either Balmoral or Sandringham and the last years of her life the Palace used her as a prop.
I think in her last years she just become so beloved and was so Iconic just because of who she was. And especially now that she is gone,people really dont see the need to even bash her. She somehow elevated to Sainthood and people will wash away all her prior sins and have her memory be that of this amazing Queen.
Honestly I think Elizabeth hasn’t been dead long enough for a real comprehensive, critical analysis of her reign. Unless you’re an unabashed completely public monster (eg Hitler, Stalin), there’s usually a delay, the whole don’t speak ill of the dead feeling that lingers after the body is cold. Give it a few years.
None of them work hard, Elizabeth included. And that’s by design. It’s just busy work to fool the public into thinking the royals perform some necessary function. (I would consider Invictus an exception.) Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that the plan one of the queens came up with to save the monarchy when other European nations were abolishing theirs? I forget her name, but she’s credited with this PR scheme to reframe the monarchs as powerless, benign civil servanrs, right?)
They’re not supposed to actually work hard or contribute anything of substance because substantive work requires policy intervention.
I wonder how much of the benevolence given to Elizabeth is due to what she was in contrast to what could have been (I am in this camp). She wasn’t Mother Theresa, but given the rest of the family, including her Hitler friendly uncle who was king for a bit….it’s scary to think of what could have been, but wasn’t, under her leadership of an already horrific lineage. Having a queen for decades was a nice reprieve from the typical English rule, and what is likely to come.
The queen went down a lot with me when she supported and helped her pedo son Andrew hide from the press and his accusers. Sure she was being a loving mother but she should have told him to man-up to his problems and face court if he insisted he was innocent. Instead of which she is said to have paid millions to his victim making his guilt clear to all.
I find it weird how the British press used to be very critical of the Royal Family and now they are far less so.
Even siding with the Middletons in that poster campaign.
Can’t but think something very weird is going on.
It was easier for the press to be critical of the Royal Family when the majority of the population supported the institution. Now that the Royal Family is losing popularity the press sees their role as the protectorof the monarchy.
They don’t want to rock the boat, the royal firm is standing on one leg right now. The British Press is smart enough to see that the shit is about to collapse 🤣🤣🤣
Agreed. Have you ever seen anything more hilarious and ridiculous than Charles and Camilla posing in all that pretentious ermine and god-knows-what finery with those ridiculous oversized hats worth a King’s Ransom perched precariously on their heads trying to live up to the equally ridiculous title in this day and age of ‘your Royal Highnesses’.
The Guardian wrote in 2022 “Monarchy is a cast of mind blocking reform. Monarchy is a feudalism of the imagination that stamps approval on inheritance, inequality.”
I think the people who actually make the biscuits would still be around without the monarchy. Wouldn’t it actually be PW who “makes the biscuits” now, anyway? Can’t say I believe QE worked hard. She was lucky enough to be born at the right time and to build up good will with the people who became used to her being the figurehead. She also seemed to be better at PR and family relations than her successor.
The only thing I’ll grant Chuck is that his insistence on organic products for the Duchy line was ahead of its time, and the business model of old hereditary estates selling farm products has become lucrative now for many old families following his footsteps (although some aristos, like the Duchess of Devonshire, were already there too). So those were sound and prescient business decisions.
He likes the duchy’s produce but who’s making the money? The landowner or the person doing the actual farming? My guess is it’s the landowner–Charles.
Farmers usually get the short end of the stick in the income stream around produce anyway. But, if the monarchy was done away with, maybe these people would get a chance to own their own farms and make more.
Never heard of this guy, but he’s right. Except it’s not Charles’ Duchy anymore.
But, of course, The Telegraph is gonna bitch about it.
Now you’ll notice him everywhere… he’s got 130 acting credits on IMDB. I suggest Happyish, an incredibly awkward but on-the-nose sitcom about upper middle class malaise with Kathryn Hahn and some other great actors. Also Hamlet 2 which is a twisted comedy about a high school drama production. My bf and I quote lines from it all the time. Steve Coogan is hilarious.
He was in Coffee and Cigarettes! I need to watch more Coogan movies after hearing him drop these truth bombs.
I love Steve Coogan and even watched Tristam Shandy twice as proof of my adoration. 😂 I am delighted to read this.
I love him too! Many women seem to. He’s incredibly bright & talented & seems to be on the right side of lots of battles. I think he’s extremely attractive.
&, yes, obviously royalists are idiots 😀
You should watch his portrayal of Jimmy Saville (very famous UK presenter who was a child abuser) – its scary, I couldn’t watch him.
Apparently he was brilliant in the role – won’t be watching though as it’s much too close to home for me.
On a lighter note, Alpha Papa was surprisingly hilarious.
Unfortunately, I have heard of Savile. 🤮 Wish I hadn’t.
I’m just trying to wrap my head around the idea of playing Jimmy Savile. For a character actor, that’s got to be the role of a lifetime, but you’d have to feel like taking a near-boiling shower after every scene, right?
Ah, you just reminded me, this won’t be his first role in a biopic! Coogan also played a “real person” in 24-Hour Party People. His whole career has been sending up smarmy, self-important, entitled people — real or imaginary — so, really, it’s all led up to this.
He was fantastic in The Reckoning,i dont know if home made UK programmes are eligible for Emmys but he deserves one.
I’ve always found Steve Coogan to be incredibly attractive and he just keeps getting better with age. Glad to see he isn’t a loyal royal ass kisser.
The gray hair is really working for him!
Yes Silver Fox is his best era yet.
For the record, beards should be mandatory LOL
Amen, same here. He has IT, whatever it is. Intelligence? Quick wit? Anyway I love him and I was listening to the pod yesterday and just cheering.
I agree with him and I agree that the Queen worked hard. She was in her 90s when she died so yeah, I would have expected her to show down a bit towards the end. I don’t fault her for that at all.
As for being born lucky, well yeah, of course she was. So was I and a million other people who are born into safe and financially stable families. She was privileged, but she understood that her role was ceremonial and she played her part well. She was a symbol for her generation and she understood the gig. Her kids and grandkids are largely useless, though. They have the entitlement without the sense of responsibility.
There is being lucky to have a stable family and there is being “lucky” to have taxpayers spend millions on your maintenance. The main thing was, her generation was more into monarchy and pretending others were above certain others.
I hate to say this but Duchy products are often quite superior. My parents shop at Waitrose (they live very close to one of their larger stores in Cornwall) and everything from the organic wines, to the meats and even the ‘basic Waitrose’ items are really good quality.
Don’t feel bad saying it. You know that the “commoners” are the ones doing the work and putting in the time to maintain the excellence. They deserve praise.
My folks live in a little (rapidly growing) village called Saltash. On one of my visits, my sister-in-law explained white cheddar to me (never really thought about the ‘orange’ being nothing but food colouring, duh..) and I swooned over the Duchy white cheddar cheese. OMG I swear, I swooned. Back home in Canada, I had to convince my family to give up orange cheddar and the only thing they fought back against was that the orange cheddar, when grated over dishes before baking, looked better once cooked! Told them if they want orange cheddar they had to buy it themselves, and no one ever has. Charles’ white cheddar cheese is the gold standard.
That’s the only nice thing I have to say about him.
One of my first world problems is that my local waitrose rarely has the duchy natural yogurt in stock. Fairly constant source of low-level irritation.
When we still lived in Glasgow we were lucky to have all but a Sainsburys within a 10 min drive but shopped mostly at Waitrose but didnt think much of the Duchy products, found that Waitroses own brand was really good, better quality in most cases especially meat products. Duchy products were overpriced, underwhelming and just plain blah. If I was to go back to Glasgow I’d be doing my shopping at Aldi!
Mostly, I’m just thinking of how aghast his former philomena co-star would be to hear him saying that😂. Dame Judi Dench is one of those flag-carriers. Anyways, think it was the film The Trip when I first thought Coogan was attractive.
The Duchy food brand is I think now partly owned by Waitrose (supermarket) and partly by Charles, but it is not actually linked to the Duchy of Cornwall so doesn’t pass to PW. Which is just as well because he would only eff it up. They do make nice food, especially the posh biscuits.
Steve Coogan was absolutely incredible in The Reckoning and I think he’ll get awards for it.
Allan Partridge is one of those characters who is a clueless, dreadful person but also somehow the underdog, so when he gets one up on someone you cheer for him. Then you’re like, why am I rooting for this a-hole? My favorite of those projects – and there are a few series with different plotlines and formats – is “I’m Alan Partridge.”
Sort of like a Michael Scott character, actually, but less goofball.
Late 1900s gossip hounds will also remember him from a brief, allegedly cocaine-fueled fling with Courtney Love who then claimed she was pregnant with his baby, siad he stalked her, and blamed him for Owen Wilson’s suicide attempt.
I was going to say, ahem, Steve Coogan is best known for playing Alan Partridge thank you very much!
Absolutely wild that I had to scroll down this far for this comment
For all his many, many roles he’s always Alan Partridge first and foremost to me.
I did NOT know about the Courtney Love gossip. Yikes.
embarrassed to say I’ve always had a little crush on Steve Coogan (something about his eyes), but now I’m not embarrassed anymore! His takes and his politics have always been good and he’s completely right here too.
He should team up with Christopher Eccleston on a project about the royal family, that would be so good.
He’s rumoured to be one of the comedians that was referred to during the Russell Brand revelations. He’s not a nice person.
Referred to in what context? I don’t remember that part.
One of my closest colleagues has been in & around the comedy scene in the UK for over 20 years. We were chatting about Coogan just a couple of weeks ago & she has never heard anything bad about him, unlike several other male comics. Anecdotal I know but hopefully true.
Upthread someone mentioned that he’d had some sort of entanglement with Courtney Love, who in those “indie sleaze” days rolled with Russell Brand, Noel Fielding, et al. I remember reading that, in her very early 20s, Amy Winehouse had so, so wanted those guys’ approval. Hopefully everyone who survived that little social group is cleaned up and healthy and well.
Honestly, if you ever need a laugh, look up the Alan Partridge videos on YouTube. Coogan played Partridge, a hilariously awkward and inappropriate sports presenter.
“Knowing Me, Knowing You” was a spoof of a TV series starring Coogan as Alan Partridge. His guests had to respond “A-ha” to Coogan’s greeting of “A-ha.” It was dumb and funny as hell.
Literally just finished his off menu episode. And yes he’s right about the monarchy and their supports.
He’s such a good actor and I love him all the more for speaking common sense about the monarchy. “Tropic Thunder” is one of the funnies movies ever, IMO. It could never be made today but the Hollywood satire is brilliant.
The Trip had me cracking up. I find him a little sexy!
The Duchy’s food Line is stocked in Waitrose,who have the Royal Patronage seal, and pays Charlie huge amounts to rent his land for Warehouses etc. The produce does not always come from the Duchy but has made in Kenya/Israel etc…and is often on the reduced counter as so expensive that it does not sell.. Tom Parker Bowles Junior is not selling well his line of ‘Dairy’ products in Waitrose and I see them removed totally or reduced as not selling either! Waitrose gave Pippa Middleton space for her cooking rubbish in their magazine and suck up to the Royals but seems Waitrose now have problems so who knows how much longer they can stock unwanted goods/lines at high prices. Some of the stuff is lovley but expensive so gues Steve can afford it.
Do not know anyone who watched the coronation excet to see bits on Harry or the Republic protests where the Police acted illegally in arresting them and are now being sued. 18 million in a country of c80 million people would not get you a TV contract especially looking at figures for Earthshit and the Concert for Burgundy sisters! Notice that Byline goes on sale in Waitrose this week!
What is a Royal Patronage seal?
Its kind of funny that more people are interested in making sure RF members are dead than seeing them crowned…..