Ricky Gervais doesn't fear death

16 July 2019

Ricky Gervais doesn't fear dying.

Ricky Gervais

The 58-year-old actor-and-comedian is realistic about his own mortality and rather than fret about his life coming to an end he prefers to feel grateful for the time he's had on Earth "to try everything and experience everything".

Speaking about his new stand-up special 'SuperNature' on TV series 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert', he said: "I talk about how amazing life is and I talk about how it's finite and I say I feel this is like a holiday. We don't exist for thirteen and a half billion years and then we have 80, 90, 100 if you're lucky of consciousness to try everything and experience everything. And then we don't exist again forever, but we're alive now and that's brilliant, so yeah roll on death. It's going to happen, isn't it? There's nothing wrong with being dead. The best thing about being dead is that you don't know about it. That is the best thing. It's like being stupid, it's only painful for others so it's fine."

The 'After Life' star is an atheist but he went on to explain about how he has moments of spirituality when he observes nature, and says that although he has "no problem with faith or spirituality" he feels it in a "different way".

Host Stephen Colbert asked: "Is magic and faith the same to you? Because they're different things to me."

The 'Office' star then replied: "I don't believe in anything without evidence. That's it. That's all they have in common. And I have no problem with faith or spirituality - I feel it in different ways. I feel it when I see nature. I don't believe someone made it, we know how amazing nature is and how good people are and how amazing dogs are, dogs are amazing. I just don't think you know there was a will to it that's all that's the only difference and I absolutely have n problem with faith or anything like that."