Stephen Merchant

Speaks on the shows. Their sketches and lines as a speaker.

Counted as writer, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they wrote, which the two lists below run through too: Fighting with My Family (2019); The Office (TV series). Count them as director (1 film), actor (3 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Rocky (1976): 2 lines

  1. craft (craft) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: Rocky ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says you cannot make a sports movie without watching Rocky and all its sequels.
    “make any kind of sports a movie without watching Rocky or indeed all of the Rockies”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:45:46 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: Rocky ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant calls Rocky a template because it beds in character so you root for him before the fight, a lesson he applied.
    “a template in the sense that it really beds in character”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:46:00 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

42nd Street: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: 42nd Street ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says he saw the film as about becoming a star and entertainer, like old backstage musicals such as 42nd Street.
    “those old kind of um, musical, like 42nd Street, right?”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:27:31 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

8 Mile: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: 8 Mile ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant lists 8 Mile among films he thought about while making it.
    “The other things I thought about are 8 mile, the Eminem film.”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:46:49 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

A Star Is Born (2018): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: A Star Is Born ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says he thought about A Star Is Born, the rags to riches story, as much as the sports side.
    “I was thinking as much about films like, you know, like a Star is Born”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:27:47 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

Batman (Tim Burton): 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: Batman (Tim Burton) ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says his furious teenage reaction to Burton's Joker change taught him that a 90-minute movie must simplify its source, as he did with wrestling storylines.
    “the more that Tim Burton's decision to do that makes perfect sense to me as a 90 minute movie”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:35:54 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

Billy Elliot: 1 line

  1. theme (theme) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: Billy Elliot ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant wanted a film that works for non-fans, as Billy Elliot makes you root for a ballet dancer despite no interest in ballet.
    “I kept thinking about movies like Billy Elliott.”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:33:50 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

Dwayne Johnson: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: Dwayne Johnson ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says his friend Dwayne Johnson sent him the documentary that became the film.
    “my dear friend Dwayne The Rock Johnson sent me this documentary about a family of British wrestlers”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:22:34 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

Saturday Night Fever (1977): 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: Saturday Night Fever ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant treats the wrestling matches like the dance numbers in Saturday Night Fever, each with different moves building to a big finale.
    “the way that the wrestling sequences are almost little dance numbers.”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:47:51 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

The Fighter (2010): 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · through Fighting with My Family (2019), which they wrote: The Fighter ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant borrowed The Fighter's low-budget trick of using HBO boxing cameramen so the wrestling would look like a real broadcast.
    “They used HBO boxing cameramen to shoot a lot of their fight scenes.”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:41:16 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

No line says anything drew on them or a film of theirs.

What the speakers said they did

Writing (2) everyone in writing

Acting (3) everyone in acting

Directing (1) everyone in directing

What was said about them, by kind

No claims join them to a film or another person.

Fun items about them

None.