Steve Coogan: Corporations are taboo

Steve Coogan believes many people find corporate America “taboo”.

The 49-year-old British actor stars in new Showtime series Happyish, a dark comedy. Steve portrays Thom Payne in the show, an older man who gets confronted after the advertising agency he works at hires a hip, young gentleman as his boss.
Steve finds the content of his programme riveting and timely.

“It’s just a good, original way to look at the world through advertising and it’s quite angry, and it’s frustrated with the world and I think a lot of people can identify with that. Also it was just the quality of the writing, really, that sort of drew me to it. I don’t have a burning desire to do TV shows, but it was so well-written by Shalom Auslander that I had to do it. It said something. It was about something. It’s not just light, fluffy stuff. It’s got substance. That attracted me too,” he told Deadline, noting network Showtime loved the concept of subversively lambasting modern corporations. “Oh, they were quite into it. I think the writer said, ‘it’s the last taboo – corporate America.’ I think it is. We say what we like about anything. But it’s not literally criticising the products, they’re living in the world of marketing. But it gives them a kick in the a**, which is good.”

Steve is father to teenage daughter Clare with his attorney ex Anna Cole.

And the star is convinced a lack of interest in social media certainly alienates older generations from connecting with technologically savvy youth.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, it does get in the way. It’s tough. I really think it’s that thing where we think it’s helping out our quality of life, but in some ways it takes something away,” he said of online communication. “I don’t do social media. I don’t do Twitter. I don’t do Facebook. I quite like having something like normality in my life.”