After Life’s Peter Egan has praised ‘genius’ Ricky Gervais and revealed Netflix show helped him deal with his own real-life grief after his wife’s death.
The 78-year-old starred in the show with his Ever Decreasing Circles co-star Penelope Wilton, playing the characters of Paul and Ann — the same names as their characters in the hit sitcom 40 years ago.
In the run-up to Christmas, the original Woman of Substance star spoke about his grief after losing his wife Myra to cancer in 2021 – and revealed that the show helped him navigate that difficult time and his emotions.
“I did a short stint in After Life with great Ricky Gervais, a great friend of mine,” said the Downton Abbey star.
“He is a genius as far as I’m concerned.
“He said, ‘I haven’t got much of a storyline for you, but I loved Ever Decreasing Circles, and I really want to get you and Ann back together again, so if I can get you on After Life, I will’.
“So that is how we sat on the park bench with the same character names – it went full circle, from Ever Decreasing Circles to After Life.
“Everyone knows Ricky Gervais, he is an international star who can go anywhere in the world and he does what he says he will do and that’s remarkable.
“I have total admiration for him, he’s a lovely, lovely man.”
Peter explained how doing After Life helped him with his grief process and mourning for his late wife Myra.
He continued: “I did the first stint in After Life soon after Myra, died in 2021.
“I was amazed at how detailed Ricky’s dealing with grief is and was considering he hadn’t experienced that kind of grief personally.
“I just thought he dealt with it most remarkably.
“Yes, from my point of view, it was emotionally quite challenging, but at least I was working with people I knew very well, and working with Penelope Wilton was just a blessing for me at that time because she knew my wife very well.
“We were friends, and so I didn’t have to pretend anything, you know, in terms of the working day and so, but then dealing with grief is a challenge all the time.
“I have accepted the fact that the grief that I feel because of the loss of Myra is something that is going to be a part of my life until I die.
“Because, after all, it’s cliche, I know, so I’m not saying anything new. I mean, grief is love. That’s all it is. It’s love shadow, and it stays with you, so I now embrace it.
“I hold it by the hand and I find that comforts me and helps me profoundly deal with grief.”
Peter has appeared in iconic films and TV shows such as Chariots of Fire to John Le Carre’s A Perfect Spy but After Life was one of his proudest moments.
Since his wife has passed, the star of A Woman of Substance finds that the companionship of his dogs comforts him.
It was his wife who he credits as “a great instigator into his entry into the world of animal advocacy.”
As a passionate animal advocate, he continues to raise awareness to prevent cruelty to all animals.
He has recently raised awareness with International Animal Rescue (IAR), going on a personal mission to rescue a bear named Retta. She had spent most of her life in the circus and was imprisoned in a cage in Armenia, but thanks to the charity’s efforts she is now free.
