"I directed before I was even in television; I directed in the theatre for seven years, so that was my trade anyway. But in the UK, I've given up any hope of being considered a director"
About this Quote
Mel Smith speaks as a craftsman staking a claim on his real identity. Long before television made him a familiar face, he learned how to stage scenes, shape performances, and move an audience in the theatre. Calling that work his trade insists on directing as skill and graft, not a celebrity accessory. Yet the second line carries a sting: the British industry he helped entertain would not grant him the status he felt he had earned.
The remark points to the way UK entertainment often pigeonholes its talents. Smith became famous on Not the Nine OClock News and Alas Smith and Jones, and the public loved him as a comic performer. That visibility hardened into a label. In Britain, once you are known for one thing, especially comedy, you can struggle to be seen as anything else. The hierarchy of seriousness that often shadows British culture puts theatre and drama on a pedestal and treats populist comedy as lesser art. Even when he moved behind the camera, the perception stuck.
It is not as if the work was lacking. Smith directed the sharp romantic comedy The Tall Guy, then the global hit Bean, followed by studio-backed features like High Heels and Low Lifes. These films required the exact craftsmanship he describes: timing, structure, and the orchestration of actors and tone. But critical gatekeeping and the habit of defining artists by their first success meant the UK often credited him as a comedian who directed rather than a director who could also be funny. The paradox is that commercial success can deepen that suspicion; a box-office hit in a broad register is sometimes judged as lightweight.
His frustration reveals a broader truth about cultural ecosystems. Institutions, reviewers, and audiences decide who someone is as much as the artist does. Smiths line is half resume, half elegy: after years proving he could direct, he resigned himself to not being seen that way at home.
The remark points to the way UK entertainment often pigeonholes its talents. Smith became famous on Not the Nine OClock News and Alas Smith and Jones, and the public loved him as a comic performer. That visibility hardened into a label. In Britain, once you are known for one thing, especially comedy, you can struggle to be seen as anything else. The hierarchy of seriousness that often shadows British culture puts theatre and drama on a pedestal and treats populist comedy as lesser art. Even when he moved behind the camera, the perception stuck.
It is not as if the work was lacking. Smith directed the sharp romantic comedy The Tall Guy, then the global hit Bean, followed by studio-backed features like High Heels and Low Lifes. These films required the exact craftsmanship he describes: timing, structure, and the orchestration of actors and tone. But critical gatekeeping and the habit of defining artists by their first success meant the UK often credited him as a comedian who directed rather than a director who could also be funny. The paradox is that commercial success can deepen that suspicion; a box-office hit in a broad register is sometimes judged as lightweight.
His frustration reveals a broader truth about cultural ecosystems. Institutions, reviewers, and audiences decide who someone is as much as the artist does. Smiths line is half resume, half elegy: after years proving he could direct, he resigned himself to not being seen that way at home.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
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