Karl Pilkington: 'I've given acting a go, but it's not for me'

His turn as Dougie in Derek was one of the highlights of Ricky Gervais’s care home comedy, but Karl Pilkington says his fledgling acting career may already be over.

“It’s not for me,” admitted the 41-year-old while promoting his new Sky 1 travelogue The Moaning of Life. “I’ve given it a go, but I didn’t like it.”

Although Gervais rated Karl’s performance as 'great', the man himself does not consider himself a proper thespian.

“I think I got away with it, but wasn’t acting,” explains Karl, who has reprised the role for the forthcoming second series of Derek.

“If you said to me: ‘Right Karl, do it in Irish’, that for me is a proper actor. If you can’t do that, you’re not really acting, you’re just remembering stuff.”