Will Arnett on coming out of his comfort zone to follow in John Bishop's footsteps

Will Arnett has spoken about how he performed stand-up for the first time in preparation for his new movie  Is This Thing On?, inspired by the life of John Bishop.

Speaking to Graham Norton on his BBC One chat show, the Hollywood star admitted than going on stage as a comedian was worlds apart from his experience as a comic actor. 

‘I have been comedy adjacent for much of my life, but I’d never done stand-up,’ Arnett said. ‘I had to stop being a comedy actor and try and approach it as someone who had never done it before. It went against every grain in my body.’

And his co-star Laura Dern was full of praise, saying: ’I saw him do it several times and it was extraordinary – he threw himself into it out there so bravely.'

Talking about the inspiration for the movie, Arnett said: ‘I happened to meet John Bishop, and he told me the story of how he became a stand-up comedian and what it did for him.  

‘I was really taken with his story and asked if I could write a movie based on his life, which is quite a daunting thing to ask somebody.  He’s been great throughout.  

‘It was inspired by his story, and some of the incredible moments are the most true.  We then built it out from there to focus on the relationship. 

‘Some forces wanted it to be a romantic comedy, but Bradley [Cooper, who directs and co-stars] rewrote the script and somehow blackmailed Laura into doing it.  Once he was on board, he elevated every step and made it much more dramatic.’

The crux of the story is drawn from Bishop taking up stand-up when his marriage was in the doldrums – after wandering into the Frog & Bucket in Manchester one night and deciding to give stand-up a go.

Arnett also told Norton about getting his breakthrough on Arrested Development.

He said: ‘I moved to New York when I was 20 and Arrested Development happened when I was 33.  I spent years struggling as an actor and I actually thought my career was over.  

‘I had just been fired from a TV show and was doing a really awful play Off-Broadway when I got a call asking if I would read for a part in Arrested Development.  

‘Initially I said no as I was done with TV work. They persuaded me to go to the audition, and the role changed my life."

Also on the show were Carey Mulligan and Tim Key, talking about their hit indie movie The Ballad of Wallis Island.

Key explained how the film came about as a short made with Tom Basden. ‘We shot it in three days and I loved it,’ he said: ‘ It was one of the best experiences of my life. After that we just left it and didn’t think anything else would happen but eventually we unlocked it as a feature film."

Asked how she got involved Mulligan, says, "My husband (Marcus Mumford, of Mumford & Sons) and I were really big fans of Tim’s late might poetry programme [on Radio 4] and Marcus did that deeply nerdy thing and DM’d Tim to tell him he was a massive fan. 

‘I then emailed him about a charity event that he declined and then four years later I got an email from Tim asking me to be in the film with the subject line "Filming Opportunity".  Of course, I said yes."

Key also talked about getting into the celebrated Cambridge Footlights, comedy troupe – despite not studying at the university.

He said: ‘I was actually temping as a regional deployment officer!  I did get busted when I was cast in an Edinburgh Festival show.  I got the call saying, "We know you’re not at Cambridge but don’t tell anyone else." I think it was a victimless crime!’

 When asked how long the lie went on for, Key jokes, ‘Until now really!’

This edition of the Graham Norton Show will be on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 10.30pm on New Year’s Eve. 

Published: 24 Dec 2025