Earlier this week, rocker Courtney Love made headlines, lashing out at British actor Steve Coogan, alleging he played a role in Owen Wilson’s tragic suicide attempt.
Coogan quickly responded to Access Hollywood, denying Love’s implication, and offering caring words for his troubled and talented superstar friend.
“My thoughts are with my friend Owen at this difficult time, but I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations . . . are completely and utterly false,” he said.
The former Hole frontwoman however, continued her tirade against the man she once had a fling with in 2005. In an interview outside her LA home she slighted Coogan’s stateside film career as well.
“He’s not even known over here. No one knows who the guys is,” she told a reporter. “He has bit parts in movies. That’s what the guy does.”
While Coogan may not be the box office star his pal Owen Wilson is, he is a celebrated British actor, who almost certainly, isn’t an unknown.
In the last year, he charmed the screen as Octavius, a mini-Roman soldier in Ben Stiller’s blockbuster “Night At the Museum,” while 2006 found him playing Kirsten Dunst’s right hand man, Ambassador Mercy in “Marie Antoinette.”
The Manchester-bred star also held audiences captivated as he took on Tony Wilson in the cult classic “24 Hour Party People.” The movie documented the rise of Factory Records and the late’70’s-early 1980’s music scene from Coogan’s own hometown– a scene which spawned the likes of Joy Division, New Order and The Smiths.
Coogan has also just finished filming Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder” alongside notables such as Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte and “Saturday Night Live’s” Bill Hader, in Hawaii.
Like Ricky Gervais, Coogan is a writer, producer, actor and comedian. His production company, Baby Cow, has made a host of funny shows over the years.
The latest project is a program called “Saxondale,” which has found popularity on BBC America. Starring Coogan himself, “Saxondale” tells the tale of a rock n’ roll roadie from the1970’s who now makes a living providing pest control services, and occasionally reminiscing about his heyday with the classic rock greats.
Fans of the popular cable channel know Coogan best however for a character he started in the ‘90s – Alan Partridge. The “Radio Norwich,” odd-ball DJ with a penchant for his own voice, peculiar women and weird personal quirks, made a name for the dark-haired star, turning him into a comedy legend in his native England, the same way “Mr. Bean” did for Rowan Atkinson and “The Office’s” David Brent did for Ricky Gervais.”
Coogan also has future plans to bring the beloved character to the big screen at some point in the future.
He has also won several comedy awards at the BAFTA’s, the UK equivalent of the Oscars.
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