On Netflix's "Derek," comedian Ricky Gervais plays a man who, as he put it on TODAY Tuesday, has "no filter." "He's us before we get burdened by what we should say and what we shouldn't," he told Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.
The character of Derek may be simple, but Gervais has a lot of admiration for him. "I wish he was real. I wish I was friends with him," he said of the rest-home employee. "He's so sweet, and it's so uplifting as well."
But while Derek can pretty much say what he likes, that isn't true for most people, particularly celebrities. Gifford and Kotb asked what he thought about famous people such as Charlize Theron and Charles Barkley recently offending some with their statements, and possibly needing to publicly apologize.
"It depends," said Gervais. "There seems to be a culture of everyone being the judge and jury, and I don't think it means much. ... If someone has got a platform, if a politician comes out and says something horrendous, they should be accountable for it. ... But people being overheard or spied upon, I just think ... we do things in private that we don't want to be seen in public."
He added, "Just say what you like. That's what it's like being Derek." Then he then dropped his chin and put on a Derek-like affect to refer to the anchors: "I like these two, They get drunk."
The second season of "Derek" is now available on Netflix.