Born:
November 24, 1974
in
Bristol
Best Known For:
Being Ricky Gervais' best friend, and sending Karl Pilkington around the world.
Early-life:
Merchant was born in Bristol and attended Hanham High School. He graduated from University of Warwick with a first-class degree in Film and Literature.
Career:
Before Merchant met Gervais, he was performing stand-up comedy. The pair worked together at London radio station XFM. Later, Merchant worked on a production course at the BBC, in which he enlisted Gervais' help for a short film called 'Seedy Boss' - which is when the idea of The Office arose, with both writing and directing the series. While The Office then enjoyed success Stateside, Gervais and Merchant also concentrated on BBC sitcom Extras. Then came Merchant's radio show for BBC 6 Music, The Steve Show. The comic is in the midst of nationwide tour of the UK, with a stop in New York, and continues to show up in movies and TV shows, including vehicles like An Idiot Abroad and Life's Too Short.
Quote:
"Ricky's quite happy to provoke opinion, to blur the line between his acting and his stand-up persona. He likes to be a little bit provocative. He takes pleasure from that and he's good at it, and to him it feels challenging. It feels important. That doesn't concern me."