Rob Brydon almost turned down the role of Bryn in 'Gavin and Stacey'.

Rob Brydon had Hollywood goals before Gavin and Stacey

Rob Brydon had Hollywood goals before Gavin and Stacey

The 59-year-old actor is reprising his role as Stacey Shipman's (Joanna Page) "naive" uncle - which he first played in 2007 - in the upcoming Christmas special finale, but he nearly snubbed the sitcom as a whole when the opportunity first came up.

Speaking to Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett on the 'Dish' podcast, he said: "It was because the thing that changed my life, work wise, was a show called 'Marion and Geoff'. I was a Welsh taxi driver called Keith Barret.

"He was a naive person like Bryn. He was a big-hearted person like Bryn - it's not a million miles away-from Bryn. And at that stage in my life, about 2006, 2007, I was still thinking, oh, well, you know, I've got to be…

"I hadn't started doing 'Would I Lie to You?' So, I was thinking, 'Oh, but I want to be this actor who, who could play any part, and if I do this part now it's, I don't know…' "

He took on the 'Would I Lie To You?' hosting gig at a similar time, and he found himself wanting to balance his home and work life.

Rob recalled: "Also, I'd started to have my two boys, you see, after my first marriage. So, you don't want to then be away from them doing films and dramas.

"It looks glamorous, but the reality is anything but. You are miles from home. You're getting up at the crack of dawn. You don't see your family. So, I wanted things that would keep me closer to home."

'Gavin and Stacey' gave him that, even if he was still harbouring Hollywood dreams at the time.

He told the BBC: "My earliest Gavin and Stacey memory is sitting on a bench at Manley Beach in Sydney, Australia. I was over there filming a series I did called 'Supernova' for the BBC."

He spoke to 'Gavin and Stacey' creator James Corden while he was out there for 'History Boys', and Rob was still "umming and ahing about" the sitcom.

He added: "At that point, I still harboured dreams of being Al Pacino. [I wanted to] play this wide range of parts, [but] James and I sat together on the bench and talked about Gavin and Stacey."

He took the part in the end, but he thinks he knows who would have landed Uncle Bryn if he'd turned the role down.

On the 'Dish' podcast, he quipped: "Thank god I did. If I hadn't, could you imagine? It'd be Ben Miller, wouldn't it? It'd be Ben - I always get mistaken for Ben!"

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