Interview with Ryan Sampson, the creator, writer and star of *Mr Bigstuff* Hero Image

Ryan Sampson is the writer, creator and star of Mr Bigstuff. He has previously been seen in Plebs, After You’ve Gone, and Sky Original Brassic, which you can read more about here.

Now, he’s taking centre stage alongside Danny Dyer, playing Glen – a hyper-anxious carpet salesman who's living a quiet life with his fianceé, Kirsty.

While Kirsty gets her kicks from shoplifting, Glen tries his best while quietly suffering from erectile dysfunction.

Then his loudmouthed, bolshy brother Lee arrives with a tin-full of their father’s ashes and all hell breaks loose.

Here’s what he had to say about the series – including the moment he nearly got arrested with Danny Dyer in a Bulgarian restaurant.

How would you describe Mr Bigstuff? Just how big is the stuff?

“It’s pretty f**ing big! Part of the conceit is that it starts with this tiny scenario and then it gets bigger and bigger until it goes to a place you just wouldn’t foresee. *Mr Bigstuff is about two estranged brothers – myself as Glen and Mr Daniel Dyer as Lee – and they’re both going about being a man in opposite ways. I play this anxious carpet salesman with erectile dysfunction, and Danny’s this wayward ex-wreckhead. They come together and have that thing where they desperately want to rip chunks out of one another, but at the same time really want their brothers back in their lives. Across the series, they end up fixing each other, they help fix each other’s lives.”

The series really reminded me of Twins, the 80s film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

“I’ve been thinking that. When I first came up with it, I was like, what is the most ridiculous thing you can think of for me and Danny? The idea that we’re brothers. Yeah, it’s like DeVito and Schwarzenegger – obviously, I’m Schwarzenegger in that scenario [laughs].”

Of course... why did you decide to set the show in Essex?

“It’s me and Danny playing brothers, so it was either Danny does a Rotherham accent, or I do an Essex one. I love how Brassic shows the North in this epic way - big things happening in small villages - and I thought it would be quite cool to do the same for Essex... and show off this undercurrent of things lurking under the surface of suburbia. Well, there’s a story behind every sunbed shop.”

Where did the inspiration for Mr Bigstuff spring from?

“It’s about broken families and how they might get back together. In real life it’s a bit like my family. We lost my mum a few years ago, and I think after that it has meant that as a family we’re all just spinning off in our own directions. It’s like the planet that we’ve all orbiting around has gone. I wanted to write something about how that kind of family might get back together, even if it’s a weird journey. I just liked that idea at the heart of it really.”

How did you find the writing process when you’re digging more into that side of things, your own personal experience of losing somebody?

“Those are probably the bits that come most naturally. The truth is, you don’t talk about these things on a day-to-day basis. But writing the scene where [Glen and Lee] fight over the eggcup that [their] mum used to like – my mum had that same eggcup we had in the shot and she used to collect them.

There is a part where we’re arguing over the dad’s ashes – this is one of those moments that feels real and sometimes you might think this might happen in real life but you hide from confronting it. It feels really cathartic to be able to get them into the light.”

You created and wrote the show and also star in it. It’s fair to say that this is a real passion project. You must be chuffed with how it’s turned out?

“I am really chuffed with the series. It’s been a big process... I can’t believe what we’ve achieved.

“Danny’s performance in episode six particularly is unreal – people are going to be shocked at what he’s doing. It’s so amazing. It’s funny and sad at the same time.”

How long have you had the idea germinating in your brain for?

“I’ve had the idea for the series germinating in my brain for quite a long time. Danny did an episode of Plebs, which we shot in Bulgaria. He was in the first episode, and he came out to film with us. I thought, f***ing hell, he’s good. Since then, the idea has been knocking around my head.

“Years later I started thinking about us both playing brothers and how stupid and quite funny that would be, and I started writing it. After finishing it, I showed it to a producer, and they said, “Ryan, we really like it... but you’ve written this specifically for Danny Dyer, and he is locked into EastEnders, which films every week of every year.

“I genuinely never even considered that Danny would be locked into Eastenders. So, from then on, I didn’t think about it. You can’t just replace Danny in something because the man’s got such a specific aura and way of speaking that I’d written it specifically for him. I was livid that I hadn’t realised he would be locked into the soap.

“After realizing I went out and saw some friends. We went for drinks, partly to console myself after writing it. The next morning, I walked past a newsagent and on the front of a tabloid it said: Dyer Quits Enders. I remember thinking, God wants this to happen, and he is talking to me through the front page of the tabloid newspapers [laughs].”

I love the fact that Danny was your muse.

“He totally was. I think he’s due a comedy comeback. He’s not been away from people’s screens much, but to see him in a different light I think is going to be really cool.”

How did you juggle everything, the writing, the acting? Was there a pressure?

“I juggled it badly. Really badly. I was going to set, and everyone was laughing and having a lovely time, and Danny’s charming everyone. I was riddled with anxiety, like a little troll who lives under the bridge just thinking about all the things that could go wrong!”

Circling back to your character, Glen. He’s a massive departure from previous roles you’ve played in Brassic and Plebs.

“I’ve written myself the straight man character, the most boring character in the show!”

What research did you do? How many carpet shops did you visit in preparation?!

“For research I wanted to find out what it was like to work in a carpet shop so I rang one up to find out, the ins, and outs. A week later I called the guy back, “hi, it’s me again.” He must have thought, who the f* is this guy? I asked “Can you just tell me, if you were giving a sales patter, would you say one of your most reliable sellers is such-and-such pile?” He responded, “Maybe...” He was definitely not into it at all.

“Then I called him a third time and said, “So, I’m writing this TV series, Danny Dyer is going to be in it as well, and I was wondering if I could come over and shadow you for day?” He just put the phone down. I think he just thought I was insane [laughs].”

This is going to be my trickiest question... carpets or wooden floors?

“I hate to say it, but I can’t stand a f***ing carpet. That’s partly why I’ve set so much of [the show] in a carpet shop because – this is a terrible thing to say for everyone that I’ve called up and asked for advice on carpeting – but it is just the lamest place I could imagine.”

Did you get a kick out of playing the straighter role?

“It was really difficult to be honest. I struggled to not make it really silly. Glen, my character, sort of finds his rage, and I think I’m much better at playing a short angry man than a short placid man.”

What was it like working with Danny again?

“When I first met Danny, it was working on Plebs we had a night out to get to know each other. Me, Tom Rosenthal, and Joel Fry, were very excited for him arriving. We agreed that when he comes in, we were all going to keep up with him. So whatever we saw him doing, we would copy for the whole night. Any drink, any action, we would match him. He arrived, and we were all sat on this patio area, and I swear to God, in about four seconds he stood up and went, “Limoncellos!” This woman was suddenly there with masses of limoncellos for everyone.

“After that night, I woke up the next morning with my face on the cold marble tile of the bathroom - it was that big a night, I fell asleep in the bathroom. My face frozen to the floor, the night out was that big.”

What kind of energy does Danny bring to set?

“A weird thing happened with having Danny on set. Growing up, I didn’t have that many strong male role models, so masculinity was always kind of a joke to me. Danny does this thing where he will stand up in a room, there’ll be 60 people, and go, “Oi! Everyone! Come on! What are we? We’re an elite f***ing unit!” He uses his testosterone, that energy, to pick people up and unite them. It’s an amazing quality.

“It actually had a big impact on me... to see up close a really good example of what it can be to be masculine. We often see masculinity with “toxic” in front of it, and I think that’s a harmful thing for young men and boys who are trying to navigate that. To see someone who manages to go, “No, I am being a man in the manliest way, but I’m also being a positive influence on people” – it’s a rare thing.”

Harriet was very emotional when she talked about the show and how happy and proud she is of you. You’re very close, aren’t you?

“We’re good friends anyway. I really wanted her to play my fiancé [Kirsty] in it. She’s an amazing actress. Most people will have seen her in Big Boys and Wreck, but she does so much in this that I just think she’s underused in other things. So, I wanted her to play my fiancé for ages. But when it actually came to it on set, the reality hits you, the fact you’re going to get off with your best friend every day [laughs]. It’s weird. At one point in a scene she said, “Just grab my tit, in this situation he would grab my tit!” I was like, “I don’t want to grab your tit!” Too much for me.”

Did you have an intimacy coordinator for the sexual scenes?

“We did have an intimacy coordinator for the sexual scenes. I can’t give away the end of the show, but a lot of kinky sex happens throughout, and filming that was intense. I also wrote a couple of naked bits for my character Glen. You write, Glen is doing press-ups in the bathroom naked, but in the reality of filming that scene, we had the sound guy standing with the boom crouched in the bathtub, as I’m doing naked press-ups. My bum hole winking at him every time I come up. You just don’t think these things through when you put pen to paper!”

Did you, Danny and Harriet get to bond much before filming began?

“We had a week of rehearsals when me and Danny had to learn how to play the spoons and do quite a slick dance routine. There was a big feeling of ‘WTF’. What if we can’t do this? We didn’t even know if Danny could dance at all. I mean, plot twist, he can. There’s something about getting really sweaty in a tiny office room at Sky headquarters that made it work.”

The spoon dance is incredible.

“It took us f***ing ages. It was quite an intense week of trying to learn the spoons, and it was worrying. It had to be good in a week’s time. It was a lot of pressure. Danny threw himself into it. You should have seen the tightness of his trousers he wore to rehearsals every day. I’ll never forget that; his tight jeans and his perfectly-placed Hermes belt jiggling around on one leg as he’s playing spoons on his knee.”

Were any scenes inspired by real-life incidents? Like the walkout scene inside the Chinese restaurant...

“The Chinese restaurant scene, that was in Bulgaria. Danny came out to film an episode of Plebs, and the night before we started filming the director and producer organised this big cast meal. We went to this fancy Bulgarian traditional restaurant. At the end we’re trying to pay and they’re just ignoring us, no one’s coming over. Danny’s getting more and more twitchy. Ten minutes go past, 15 minutes. The producer said, “Don’t worry, I’ll sort it.” Danny goes, “Right, all of ya, on your f***ing feet, we’re leaving.

“The producer said, “Oh god, no, please.” The reason why the restaurant staff were not seeing to us, was because the Bulgarian president was having a meal in the separate suite upstairs. Danny’s like, “F* this, get up, we’re going.” We all get up like, oh god, are we going without paying? We’re all marching out.

“The waiters are shouting at us, trying to stop us, and Danny’s just leading everyone through this restaurant. We get to the street, and as we get out a police car spins round and stops us. The police get out and there’s this altercation between Danny and these Bulgarian policemen.

“Danny has to be on set the next day at 6am, so this can’t go wrong. Danny’s talking to them but they’re not understanding him, they’re shouting back. Eventually they seemed to just calm down. Danny’s done it. He’s pulled this off. Somehow, his natural cockney charisma has worked. We all walked off; it was fine. And then the producer turned to me and said, “No, I paid ten times the bill, just to make sure he didn’t get arrested”.

“Another true thing that happened to me [which is in the show], I went over to my friend’s house, we had a few drinks, and I ended up staying over and sleeping in her bed. In the morning, I woke up and there was a glass of water by the side of the bed.

“I thought, ah, that’s nice, she’s put a glass of water there for me, so I have a swig of it. As it’s in my mouth, I thought, there’s something wrong with this water. I look over and say to her, “What is this water?”

“She responds, “You weren’t supposed to drink it, it’s my spit cup, I get a bit mucus-y in the morning.” I could feel it going down my throat. Horrifying. There’s a lot of swearing as well.”

How much of that was Danny improvising?

“No, I write a lot of swearing because I am a sweary person. People swear in real life. Get over it, come on, let’s put it on TV!

Is there a limit on the amount of swear words you can include?

“They say you can’t say c in the first five minutes. You don’t want a c up in your face, there’s a rule about it.”

The series explores the issue of erectile dysfunction. What made you want to tackle that subject matter?

“The truth is, it’s not a problem that I have. However, I don’t know if that’s a good thing to say because the whole point is, you should be able to talk about these things.

“This is my take on it, right. Men’s mental health is obviously f***ed, we know that. A huge killer of men under a certain age is suicide because people don’t talk about their mental health problems. This is horrible and insane. Part of that, an offshoot of that, is that erectile dysfunction is looked at as a) shameful and b) a problem inside someone, when if that was them saying “I get sad, or I get anxious” – the erectile dysfunction is an extension of that emotion – if they were saying that you wouldn’t treat it as this joke thing.

“It’s disgraceful that in this day and age, it’s still a sort of taboo because it’s just men’s mental health. We need to get a grip on that.”

What message are you trying to get across about masculinity?

“I think masculinity and faking – putting on a front – have become intertwined. That is the greatest problem that needs to be tackled. Pretence and secrecy and not feeling able to share the truth of things is at the root of so many of men’s problems, and I would love to go a tiny bit of the way to un-f***ing that...

I’d like the message to be just have a go at talking about stuff, it won’t be as bad as it seems, and we all need to collectively un-f* this thing we’ve gotten into of putting up a front to be seen like men.”