The British funnyman wants the new statue of his popular onscreen character to be made permanent and become a new signature landmark in the United Kingdom.
- September 27, 2020
AceShowbiz - Steve Coogan wants two sculptors' statue of his Alan Partridge character to become a permanent landmark in Norwich, England.
The cold-cast brass figure, made by film industry sculptors Nick Dutton and Gavin Fulcher, appeared in front of The Forum venue in Partridge's home city on Thursday (24Sep20), and will remain there until Sunday.
Coogan, who has played Partridge on stage, TV, online, and on screen for nearly three decades has now called on local officials to keep the statue.
"I think it would be nice if it had a permanent place in Norwich," he told BBC Breakfast, adding that it is "fantastic" and he is "very flattered."
"I heard rumours about it but it surpassed my expectations, it is quite magnificent," he continued. "I think the Norfolk Tourist Board should embrace it and make it work for them."
Coogan first appeared as the hapless Norwich-based DJ and TV personality as a sports presenter on BBC Radio 4 news spoof show "On the Hour", which later transferred to TV as "The Day Today". He starred as Partridge in the sitcom "I'm Alan Partridge" and a 2013 movie, and recently reprised the role for a series of Audible podcasts and a new BBC spoof magazine show "This Time".
Despite Alan Partridge gaining huge popularity in U.K., Coogan admitted in a previous interview with Vogue that it's difficult to bring the character Stateside. "We did look at it, and we certainly talked about it. I never say never, but I feel that the problem sometimes with something which is so iconically British psychologically, it has never really gained traction in the US," he explained.
