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The Romesh Ranganathan Show

Stephen Merchant: Being The Awkward Guy & Letting Go Of THE OFFICE

The Romesh Ranganathan Show

Ranga Bee & Platform Media

Comedy, Society & Culture

4.6 • 713 Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Multi award–winning writer, actor and director, Stephen Merchant joins Romesh for a hilarious conversation about his career. They discuss how The Office reshaped comedy, why Tim and Dawn still land, Stephen’s shift into drama, his quest for “flow state," and why he regrets always playing the awkward guy. A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Listen. 00:00 Intro 02:10 Chat GPT vs Stephen's BAFTAS 04:20 Do Awards Mean Anything? 07:45 Mark Hamill’s Trousers 09:25 Teacher Trauma 16:20 Tiny Grand Piano & Music Regrets 18:30 The Flow State 24:50 How The Office Changed Comedy 28:33 Tim & Dawn 31:34 Letting The Office Evolve 34:49 Goodbye June With Kate Winslet 38:06 Shanthi’s Question & Being The Awkward Guy 42:00 Stallone, Woody Allen & The Danger of Being Typecast 44:00 The Walking Dead 46:20 Logan With Richard E. Grant 50:00 Ambitions & American Success 58:00 Misquoted 01:04:30 Being 6’7 Tall 01:07:20 Stephen’s Adult EXCLUSIVE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Film and TV, it's like you show up and it's kind of like,

0:02.9

this is the woman playing your wife of 30 years.

0:04.9

Nice to meet your Barbara and action, you know.

0:08.8

If you were talking about the best,

0:10.4

the office certainly has a place in the conversation.

0:12.4

I didn't want to say it, but I appreciate you saying that.

0:14.5

But no, I think we'd all agree that we were the right for winners

0:19.1

those three years in a row. But obviously, you know, I'm one of the great lovers.

0:24.6

Yeah.

0:25.6

And I think anyone who knows me, you know, privately, Ramesh, can confirm that.

0:29.6

Every time someone tells me something, like, you know,

0:32.6

well, I discovered at the age of 25 that my father's not my real father.

0:36.6

You lucky bastard. It was like the Battle of 25 that my father's not my real father. You lucky bastard.

0:38.3

It was like the battle of the song as a kid and you're moving, you're marching forward

0:43.3

and your friends are getting taken down around you by bullying or abuse or, you know, being ostracized.

0:51.3

And you're just keep, you can't look left or right, you've just got to keep marching forward.

0:56.1

You know what I mean?

0:56.5

I'm hoping that you don't get taken down next.

1:00.6

Hi, I'm three-time BAFTA winner, Stephen Merchant,

1:03.3

and I'm going to be on the Romish Ranganathan podcast.

1:05.8

Enjoy it.

1:12.5

It's the Romish.

...

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