'Only Fools and Horses' star Nabil Elouahabi, famous for playing 'Gary', is creating a new comedy with 'Casualty legend Amanda Mealing.
Nabil Elouahabi
The 52-year-old actress - who plays Connie Beauchamp in the medical drama - has been working with Nabil and her husband, screenwriter Richard Sainsbury, on the top secret new show which the trio are currently pitching to broadcasters.
Speaking on The Jolly Boys podcast, Nabil spilled: "There's a show that I'm developing with Amanda Mealing, who is most know for her work on 'Casualty' and 'Holby City', and her husband Richard Sainsbury who has written a brilliant comedy-drama. We're all developing it together and we're hoping to see somebody pick that up."
Nabil - who brought the well-remembered mistaken illegal immigrant Gary to life in the 2002 Christmas special 'Strangers of the Shore' - is making 2020 the year that he gets back involved in comedy in a big way as he is also shooting a pilot for a sitcom that has been written by stand-up comic and actress Andi Osho, both of whom are 'Casualty' alumni.
He said: "I'm doing a pilot for a really, really funny writer called Andi Osho, she's a comedian and an actor and now a friend. She's developing something which I think is really funny. I don't think I can say anything more than that."
Even though he has played numerous memorable roles, including Tariq Larousi in 'EastEnders' from 2003 to 2005 and Mr. Mustapha in the Netflix series 'Top Boy', Nabil admits that 18 years on from his 'Only Fools and Horses' appearance he is still stopped by fans on a weekly basis who are thrilled to meet 'Gary', who Del Boy accidentally locks in the back of Denzil's van when on a booze run in France.
Nabil, 45, insists he has late writer John Sullivan to thank for creating a character so memorable as even though he only appeared in one episode opposite Sir David Jason as Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter he still, to this day, feels a lot of love from the BBC sitcom's fans.
He said: "He was branded brilliantly well, 'Gary!' One word, one image, it's almost like a political slogan. What I mean by that is the strength of that clear branding. And of course the choice of the word, I couldn't look, or sound, or act any further from anyone who is called Gary, everybody knows someone called Gary, a Gary down the road. He is the antithesis of that name, that visual narrative, who looks scared and they all think is an immigrant.
"I remember one of the gags was, we can't release him in case that maybe I worked for Al-Qaeda, and there's that brilliant line from Del, 'Does he look like he works in a furniture store?' That's because he thinks it's Ikea. It's not accidental, that is comedy genius, that is the quality of acting, that's not some accidental thing.
"There isn't one week where I won't be walking down the street and somebody comes up to me and asks, 'Are you Gary? Oh my God!' "I'm grateful to the audience, it fills me with pleasure."
Tagged in John Sullivan Sir David Jason