He’s become a household name over the last fifteen years or so; first as a stand-up comic, then for sitcoms from Ideal right through to Benidorm, now those PG Tips ads and not forgetting appearances on any comedy panel show you care to mention in amongst all that lot. Now Johnny Vegas‘ biography, Becoming Johnny Vegas, is to take a leap of faith and be turned into a biopic.
In fact, a leap of faith isn’t too far from the truth. The film, just like the book, will chart the funnyman’s formative years in Lancashire, where he initially wanted to become a priest but in the end chose to pursue a career in comedy instead.
As the flick will hark back a fair few years, Michael Pennington, as family and friends get to call him, will not be able to play himself. He has, however, let it be known that he would dearly love to take the director’s seat and has also jokingly suggested that the lucky lad who lands the lead would need to be someone who “drank cider” and “fought geese”.
Anyway, with things still very much in the developmental stages, it’s perhaps a little too early to be talking about casting. As for the choice of director, Vegas himself wouldn’t be too bad an option. He already has experience under his belt, albeit in television rather than film, with Moving On, Playhouse Presents and Little Crackers to his credit. Also, as we know, he is no stranger to the big screen when it comes to acting – Blackball, The Libertine and Sex Lives of the Potato Men (excuse that last one) all appear on his CV.
Which should be more than enough to persuade Sky, who are backing the project, to hand Vegas his big screen directorial debut. It’s been an incredible journey for the man from St Helens so far, and it looks like it’s just about to get that little bit better.
Discussion feed