Stand-up comic-turned-actor Billy Connolly has played Her Majesty's servant in "Mrs Brown", and a messenger from God in "Gabriel & Me". Now he's suing the man upstairs for zapping his fishing boat with a bolt of lightning in Aussie comedy "The Man Who Sued God".
You've said that you felt the script was too 'cutesy pie' and 'comfy' the first time you read it. What did you mean?
A lot of comedy scripts, for reasons best known to the writer, tend to lean towards comfortable situations, where everyone's quite nice and gets funny lines. But I find, when it comes to politics and religion, the situation should carry the comedy along, not the writing. I think discomfort, and it's the same with my act, creates funny. Extreme discomfort, like having no trousers when everyone else has got theirs on, is funny. Or sex is only funny if somebody's watching, you know?
The Church is having a hard time in the movies at the moment. Was it fun joining in and pricking its pomposity?
Well, the film's not only pricking the pomposity of the Church, it's pricking the pomposity, and sometimes you would think fraudulence, of the insurance companies. I had never read anything like this until I was doing the film, but Mark [Joffe, the director] and people showed me stuff where, like a flood, it mattered where the water came from. If you're flooded from above, you get the money; if you're flooded from below, you don't. What's that about?
You're not a fan of organised religion, though...
Well, no. Religion is just such a corporate affair. It's like dealing with ICI. You see them squirming around and nobody taking the blame, exactly the same as corporate officials. You know, don't be caught holding the fiver when the music stops. Or, in the case of the Catholic Church, don't be caught holding the child when the music stops. People can believe what they want to believe. But if you have a religion started by a talking snake, keep it the f*** away from me!
On more carnal matters, how did it feel to play a romantic lead at 60?
I was much younger when I did it. I was 57 at the time. Actually, I had no problem with it at all. She's a very attractive woman, Judy Davis. It was easy-peasy.
And how was turning 60?
Well, 60 is weird, because it affects everybody around you. Fifty does too, although it's more pleasant. Nobody warns you anymore about your behaviour after 50, because they say, "Oh leave him alone, he's f* nuts." But I still feel 35. I don't think my appearance has changed all that much. My hair colour has changed, but I still feel sexy. I don't mean I feel I'm a sexy man like Sean Connery, but I still feel sexual. Food and sex and shelter are still my priorities. In that order.
"The Man Who Sued God" is released in UK cinemas on Friday 22nd August 2003.
