NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- British comedian Ricky Gervais says he was pleased filmmakers asked him to play a fat, smelly pigeon in the new animated film "Valiant."
"It's just good fun," Gervais told UPI in New York recently. "I'd seen the sketches (before we started working,) which was nice, and they made me a fat, smelly pigeon, which was lovely. I wouldn't have had it any other way."
Best known for his wildly popular BBC sit-com, "The Office," Gervais said he leaped at the chance to make the World War II-era, computer-animated comedy about hero carrier pigeons.
"It's sweet and I think it's like an old-fashioned Disney movie," he said, revealing he ad-libbed a lot of his character Bugsy's lines. "I'm fascinated with history and this is a lovely bravery movie, which is one of my favorite things. I love honor and bravery in movies."
Featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, John Cleese, Tim Curry and Hugh Laurie, "Valiant" is in theaters now.
