Stephen Mangan makes self-satisfied men funny by letting us see how hard they work at it. Green Wing makes particularly good use of his extravagance, though its appetite for silliness sometimes needs checking.
Fi1m perspective
In Green Wing (2004), Stephen Mangan's Guy Secretan makes being pleased with himself look exhausting. Mangan lets us see the effort behind Guy's vanity, without asking us to like the man for it. We laughed at that effort; the harder Guy works at being impressive, the less dignity Mangan allows him. It is a strong use of an actor who can make an objectionable man worth watching, though he benefits from having less strenuous performers alongside him.
His screen breakthrough was the lead in Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (2001), after a period working mainly in theatre. Green Wing then made his arrogant, self-deluding characters familiar, and the offers that followed tended towards similar parts. Episodes (2011), with Mangan as Sean Lincoln, gave him another long-running comedy lead. The caution for anyone casting him is to give him something more to do than be insufferable.
Victoria Pile's Green Wing gives him particularly useful company in Tamsin Greig as Caroline Todd and Julian Rhind-Tutt as Mac. Greig keeps embarrassment funny without pleading for affection; Rhind-Tutt's more relaxed presence gives Mangan's strenuous vanity something to play against. The pleasure is in those differences, rather than in everyone trying to be the loudest person in the scene. The hour-long episodes sometimes let the silliness run on beyond the point where it earns its keep. Mangan's performance is a reason to watch, but we would not wish the whole ensemble to behave like Guy.
In Ron Howard's Rush (2013), he plays Alastair Caldwell in support of a rivalry carried by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl. We recommend its tense racing drama, while allowing for some over-explaining between races. It is worth an evening, but a supporting role there tells us less about Mangan than the sustained comic work of Guy Secretan. For Mangan, start with Green Wing; patience with its longer stretches of silliness will help.
Biography
Stephen Mangan is a British actor. He studied law at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
He is known for playing Guy Secretan in the series Green Wing (2004), Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge (1997), and Seán Lincoln in Episodes (2011). Other credits include roles in Billy Elliot (2000), Birthday Girl (2001), Rush (2013), Breathe (2017), and Dirk Gently (2012). He has also worked extensively in theatre.
