He was looking for something funny to do, just to make people laugh.

It was an opportunity really that just came to me.

I wanted to do some more film.

Id done six years of telly, and more so sketch-based comedy in the UK.

It was never really what I set out to do.

I met Stephan and luckily I must have convinced him that I was right for the part.

So did you come to it through Kris Marshall?

I know Stephans talked about Kris being his doppelganger!

Stephan has this weird thing in his head that he and Kris look alike.

I cant see it myself!

I think Stephans got this thing that he thinks he casts people who look like him in his films!

But Kris and Stephan had worked together onEasy Virtue,and were friends anyway.

Ive been friends with Kris for about 12 years.

We worked together onMy Family.I didnt even know that Kris was involved until they offered me the part.

Working with Stephan is brilliant as well.

Hes quite a character, on and off set.

Hes good fun to be around.

Stephan says what he thinks, you know?

And sometimes he tends to exaggerate the truth, which is quite interesting.

When he tells you an anecdote…

The first few weeks we were, Wow, and the horse died?

All Stephans stories ended up with I turned around, and everybody was dead.

And then you find out from someone else the truth of the story.

But Stephen is a natural storyteller.

Hes got that ability to twist and turn, and make stuff interesting.

He was always going to be a director, hes very talented.

He says of you and Kris Marshall that you sabotage each other, on and off the camera.

Yeah, Id say it was fair.

Kris and I, we are quite a lethal combination together.

We are very good mates, and we do like to enjoy ourselves.

And also, the characters we were playing really embodied that.

It was brilliant fun.

Kris is a bit older than me, hes 40, Im 32 this year.

But we were behaving like we were at university…

Was the film shot digitally?

It was shot on a Redcam…

So did that give Stephan the scope to let you have a couple of extra takes at the end?

That is the beauty of digital.

The schedules on these films anyway are always so gruelling, and they tend to be a huge ask.

I think most of the work is done in the casting process.

Thats where the precision of the job comes into play.

Yeah, I mean I walk onto all sorts of jobs now.

And I see what theyre doing, and think, this is nothing!

On my show we used to do ten pages of dialogue a day, or eight to ten sketches.

It was a phenomenal amount of work.

We did ten turnarounds.

Its a really big ask, we want everyone to dig deep.

I just think, fucking hell!

This is a walk in the park!

Apparently, Brett Ratner sets are amongst the most gruelling.

Hes the one who tends to go 17-18 hours a day I think.

At least the moneys good!

But I think its an American thing.

Ive been on set, and despite the workload on my show, we always finished on time.

Thats brilliant production teams, they never overran.

But I know shes incredibly famous, and shes almost a regal figure in Australia.

But she just blew all of that away completely.

Shes one of the most down to earth actresses Ive ever worked with.

A wicked sense of humour, so lovely, and we got on really well.

She looked after us, she mothered us!

Can she still belt outXanadu?

Oh yeah, she will!

I would quite often break into songs fromGrease, and she would just sing along most of the time.

She never told me to be quiet!

Shes just so used to being ribbed, and shes up for a laugh.

I have to ask you about yourMuppetdays, and your starring role inMuppet Treasure Island.

That was my biggest gig its been downhill ever since.

Im trying to get back there, I peaked too soon!

It came fromGrange Hillfor you, didnt it?

It worked in my favour actually.

It was Borehamwood, Elstree, really.

I remember all the kids saying that was it, my career was over, youve been sacked.

Ill never forget those days.

I do have to ask: what was your official reason for being sacked fromGrange Hill?

There was a string of events, really.

We had a green room.

We didnt have a playground, because the playground was actually being used as theEastEndersset.

And that was the room for 100 kids.

So a lot of people were sitting on each others laps, and reading books, and basically bored.

So I did it about a thousand times, as a bit of a creative art.

When the producer saw it, she went absolutely nuts.

Docked my wages, called my parents, and sacked me.

Yeah, just like that.

I remember, I had a really big storyline.

And I was in every episode.

Thats how they ousted me from the series!

So going back toMuppet Treasure Island, then.

Its interesting you said that actually.

I dont think people realise that what you see with The Muppets isnt necessarily how its done.

And its quite treacherous.

Energy levels have to be up the whole time, else you just look like youve got no energy.

I think it was Tim Curry who struggled with it.

I think he struggled a bit with it.

You had to sing at the same time, too.

And you didnt redub your songs afterwards?

What happened was they used my singing that I did for the audition.

I did it in the recording studio when I was auditioning for the part.

And they wanted to redo the song, but my voice had broken.

It started to break half way through, so they couldnt do it.

Do you miss singing?

I would like to give it a go again.

If you could choose any biopic to do, then, what would it be?

I dont know, Im not sure.

How about Jason Donovan!

Is that a serious ambition to do an Oliver Reed biopic?

Hes got quite a story.

Yeah, it really is.

And I would love to play him, Ive always wanted to do that.

Im talking to people about writing that, actually.

Is film where your immediate ambitions are now?

Do whatever comes into your mind.

What I love about film, from an acting perspective, is that its an art.

A journey from the start to the end.

All the actors Ive played, Ive really enjoyed the research, and the journey.

Thats what I love about film.

And are you still planning the TV show with Rebel Wilson?

The pilot is up in the air.

It got dropped by CBS, then it got picked up by ABC.

So Im still on hold for that.

But Rebel and I are working on development for a film at the moment anyway.

Ive also got development going on with the BBC for a new TV show, too.

Kevin Bishop, thank you very much.

A Few Best Men is out in UK cinemas now.