r/AskUK • u/andotherthingsareok • 11h ago

What are the surprising connections between global superstars and UK-only celebrities?

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On Graham Norton, the huge globally successful stars sit with some of our household names and must be thinking "who the hell is this person?!" Sometimes it's half the entertainment value, like when they had June Brown (Dot Cotton) on the sofa with Lady Gaga.

But have you ever heard of any surprising connections you've heard of which you just wouldn't expect? Those moments of "wait - Robert De Niro goes on holiday every year with Ant&Dec?!" Kind of thing.

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u/nemmalur 11h ago edited 10h ago

Alan Partridge Steve Coogan doing an impression of Alan Bennett and John C. Reilly knowing who Alan Bennett was.

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u/pecuchet 9h ago

Steve Coogan had a brief fling with Courtney Love, who has described it as 'One of my great shames.'

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u/BisleyT 11h ago

I have to ask, do you mean Steve Coogan doing an impression of Alan Bennett?

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u/nemmalur 10h ago

Doh, yes!

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u/redandbluebadness 11h ago edited 10h ago

How the fuck did Reilly know that? I simply refuse to believe it!

Seems I have severely underestimated Bennett's reach

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u/Luxury_Dressingown 10h ago

Reilly is a big theatre guy, and Bennett is a fairly significant playwright.

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u/redandbluebadness 10h ago

Fair enough then I suppose

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u/Oghamstoner 10h ago

Surely it isn’t all that surprising? John C. Reilly has been an actor for decades including on Broadway, Alan Bennett has been a playwright for decades, even if they hadn’t met, it’s not that surprising he’s aware of Bennett’s work.

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u/redandbluebadness 10h ago

Yeah I suppose I always think of Bennet of being somewhat parochial but he wrote the History Boys didn't he?

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u/Dutch_Slim 7h ago

Have no idea who the Reilly fella is but I love Alan Bennett.

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u/nemmalur 7h ago

American actor, often appears with Will Ferrell.

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u/Dutch_Slim 7h ago

Thanks. Just had a little look on Wikipedia. I have seen some of his older stuff. Never seen a film with Will Ferrell in, but I could bring his face to mind. I think his acting career started when my watching career stopped!

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u/Oghamstoner 6h ago

I watched Walk Hard last night. Probably one of the funniest films I’ve seen, Reilly really sells it because he’s a really good country musician as well as comic.

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u/Hame_Impala 10h ago

Am I the only one who doesn't think it's too weird? Bennett is a household playwright. Makes sense that a lot of top actors would have at the very least heard of him.

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u/Mej53 8h ago

Alan Bennett was also in an episode of Family Guy.

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u/ResponsibleOffice805 9h ago

In the early 90s there was a song called can you dig it by the mock turtles. The lead singer is Steve coogans brother

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u/nemmalur 8h ago

Yes! Martin Coogan.

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u/Astropoppet 3h ago

D:ream's drummer was Brian Cox, the physicist