Stephen Merchant Interview: The Outlaws

screenrant.com:

The Outlaws revolves around a group of seven very different people brought together by their having broken the law and charged with completing community service, only to find their lives further complicated when they discover a bag of money with ties to the dangerous world of organized crime. The ensemble cast for the series is led by Stephen Merchant, Rhianne Barreto, Christopher Walken, Gamba Cole, Darren Boyd, Clare Perkins and Eleanor Tomlinson.

Related: Stephen Merchant's Best Films Ranked (According To IMDb)

In anticipation of the show's premiere, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with co-creator/writer/director/star Stephen Merchant to discuss The Outlaws, his personal inspirations behind the show, its origins as a movie and more.

Screen Rant: So The Outlaws is an absolute blast and is also quite the moving series. How did it come about?

Stephen Merchant: Well, when I was growing up, my parents were involved with the community service world. They supervised people who had broken the law in various ways and were doing 100-200 hours of community service. They would tell me about some of the people that came to the door and it was always an unusual mix. It wasn't who you'd expect.

There was, I remember, an American businessman who would got caught doing a DUI and had to stay in England to do community service. There was a kid I went to school with called Dave who came through several times. Dave was the world's laziest criminal. He once got caught in a house stealing the TV and the homeowners came back and they went, «Dave, what are you doing?» He went, «I'm not Dave.» And they went, «Yes you are, you live next door!» He couldn't even go like a block over, he literally was stealing from his next door neighbors.

I just