If you've been living under a rock, you might not be aware that the third instalment of Ricky Gervais' After Life is now available on Netflix and one of his superfans has been cast to take on a role in the series. You can watch on of his TikToks below:
Cole Anderson-James always dreamed of being an actor but instead, ended up taking on a sales job before dabbling on TikTok.
His lip syncs became more popular as he took on scenes from The Inbetweeners, The Office and After Life with people watching them and taking the time to tag Ricky Gervais in the clips.
Speaking about his success on the video-sharing platform, Cole told inews: "TikTok is amazing because you can have zero followers and still get a million views.
"If your content is good and you’re being consistent and uploading something every two days, the algorithm will push it to others. On YouTube and Instagram you need the followers first, but luckily it’s worked for me on Twitter as well."
Eventually, Gervais retweeted one of the videos which caught Emily Atack's eye and she went on to cast the 24-year-old in her ITV2 programme, The Emily Atack Show.
Speaking about that experience, he said: "I’m so grateful to Emily because she knew I hadn’t had any acting experience but wanted me to audition for the role as her boyfriend.
"That experience meant I was a bit less nervous filming for Afterlife and talking to Ricky between takes.
"I play a laughing yoga teacher in front of a class, in front of seven extras and a main character, but it was all me talking. Emily Atack’s mum [Kate Robbins] is in it as well, so that was nice.
“It’s amazing how differently you’re treated by the crew when you’re a main member of the cast. They literally wait on you, hand and foot. It was literally like a real-life version of Extras.”
When it comes to being cast in After Life, Cole took to Twitter writing: "@rickygervais doesn’t give s****y jobs. Here’s to going from making videos in my room, to working with the man himself on #Afterlife3. Thank you to Ricky and everyone this past year for all the support!"
Cole explained how he didn't get any tips when he met Gervais, saying: "I didn’t actually ask him for advice when I saw him, I probably should have. Maybe I’ll be the one giving him some tips."
Topics: TV and Film, Ricky Gervais, Netflix
Rebecca Shepherd