As Ricky Gervais took his highly-anticipated third turn hosting the Golden Globe Awards earlier this month, it seemed like the whole world was watching to see who he'd insult, and how hard he'd do it. One might think that global audience would include Gervais's own best friend, but all bets are off when it comes to Karl Pilkington.
The remarkably honest -- and a bit different -- star of the Gervais-produced "An Idiot Abroad," Pilkington spoke with The Huffington Post on the Friday following his friend's performance. He was in London during the Globes, and as he told HuffPost, he had no interest in watching the show -- or any other award show, period.
What did you think of Ricky's Golden Globes performance?
Honest to God, I haven't seen it. What you've got to remember is, it's on at like, what time would it be? Three in the morning or something over here. I didn't see it last year either. I don't really watch telly that much. I play cards and listen to music and stuff like that and if I do watch telly, it's either a film or a nature program or something. He did all right though, didn't he? I've seen in the paper some people say oh he wasn't hard enough and some people said he was kind, so whatever. You can't please everyone all the time. There are people who probably hate "An Idiot Abroad," but if you try and please everyone all the time you end up not pleasing anyone. So I think he did alright, from what I read about. I'm sure it's on YouTube. But even if I was up, I think even if it was on 7 p.m. our time, I wouldn't have watched it, just because I don't watch awards shows. I don't even go to them if I'm up for one, I just find them quite boring.
Do you find them boring if you win?
If I win an award? No, I don't really know what they're about in a way. I don't know what you're meant to get. I've never won many awards, I didn't get certificates for swimming or anything. The award... I don't know what it's meant to do -- it's just more clutter around me house, really. I don't have ornaments because they don't do anything, so it's never been me. Maybe it's because I've never won much, but I don't go to them now. I'm up for a couple of awards here for the program, but I don't like to go to them. Ricky and Steve invited me to the BAFTAs about ten years ago and I went to that and I had to buy a suit. I don't know why you've got to wear a suit to watch people pick up awards, and that was the last time I went and I said I'd never do that again, and I haven't. And I don't intend to.
Would you go if you could go in jeans and sneakers?
I'm not saying you should go in stinking or not having a bath or a shave or something, but just a shirt and a pair of pants. I don't know what it's all about. I don't know why they feel they have to even put it on the TV. I say have the night and give people the awards, but why do people want to watch people win awards? What are they getting out of it? I don't quite get it. Because they have awards all the time; there's awards for butchers, the best meat served, but they don't televise it. I don't know why they do it for films or TV programs. Either the people like watching the show and they watch it, or they don't like it and they don't watch it. Why would you then want to see someone pick up an award for it? There's a lot of things in life I don't understand and that's just one of them.
Do you think it's actors' ego?
You can't say they're all the same. I don't know. All I know is that I don't like those sort of nights out. I mean, I don't really go out at night in terms of noisy, busy places; I prefer more of a quiet corner somewhere. So straight away, even if it wasn't for actors -- if it was the butchers' awards and I was a butcher -- I wouldn't go anyway. So it doesn't have to do with the company, it's just being out with a load of people on a sort of organized, fun night. I just don't do it. There's something about it that I just don't like.