Steve Coogan has said that he never thought his character, Alan Partridge, would have “traction” after his first outing on radio back in 1992.
Speaking to Empire he said "It's both a blessing and a curse. I love doing it because it makes me laugh. But if I wasn't doing other things I'd go mad."
The 47-year-old star said that he really tries to distance himself from the character when he is working on other projects saying "I feel I need a break from him and everything associated with him."
Steve has returned to the character many times at intervals over the years from The Day Today to Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge and I’m Alan Partridge. His latest outing sees the hapless Norwich radio star come to the big screen with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.
He also explained to Empire why he decided to call the character Alan saying he wanted a name which sounded sporty adding "We didn't want a name that could have been intellectual."
The film will be in cinemas in August.
