Chris O'Dowd Interview, Moone Boy Martin Moone is something of an outsider; not quite an oddball but certainly not one of the popular crew. It's hard to imagine O'Dowd - laid-back, a bit diffident, good-naturedly blokey - bearing much of a resemblance. "I suppose I was an outsider in the fact that I was growing up in a very matriarchal society with lots of older sisters," he says. If you're the youngest you're picked on, and if you're the sex that everyone else isn't then you're picked on too. O'Dowd, however, isn't about to reach for the psychological dictionary. He describes his family as "warm, funny, loud." Were they worried about how they might be portrayed? "It was never going to be that kind of show," says O'Dowd. "One of my sisters said, "I hope whoever's playing me is pretty." But that was the extent of it. Moone Boy marks a rare trip back over the Atlantic for O'Dowd. Ever since the 2011 hit Bridesmaids in which he played traffic cop Officer Rhodes, the sometimes reluctant object of Kristen Wiig's single thirty-something's affections, Hollywood has kept him busy. Did he know he was in a smash hit? "You never know," he says carefully. I first saw Bridesmaids in a tiny Soho screening room. It was a media screening, but I began to sense it was working when the reviewers started to laugh. Reviewers are the worst laughers in the world. Despite O'Dowd's laid-back presence, he can show the odd flicker of irritation. For example, when I mention that his no bull---- attitude might be at odds with Hollywood sycophancy. "In my opinion, this knocking of Hollywood is tied to Empire," he says, sounding exasperated. In Ireland we don't talk about Hollywood like that. There tends to be a jealousy in England towards countries that are successful. People in England talk about stupid Hollywood idiots, but the industry attracts some of the cleverest people in the world. From my experience, I've just worked with funny and selfless people who are trying to make each other laugh. O'Dowd's next few roles are all in comedies. He has made a film with Judd Apatow and is due to start work on Christopher Guest's new project Family Tree, an Anglo-American co-production between the BBC and HBO. Does he worry about getting typecast? I think I've just found a sweet spot for what I'm good at. Which is? I think I'm good at comedy naturalism. I'm good at people believing what I'm saying and finding it funny. It was his role as geeky everyman Roy in Channel 4"s The IT Crowd that first brought O'Dowd to public attention. Roy was easily recognisable to anyone who has ever been told to switch their computer off and on again. Will there be a reunion? I don't think we've got a series in us, but I would love to do some specials. It keeps nearly happening but then I hear that Richard [Ayoade] is in edit or Katherine [Parkinson] is having a baby. I believe, however, that there is a will. Despite the comedy-heavy CV, O'Dowd can carry off serious dramatic roles, as those who saw last year's Victorian psychodrama The Crimson Petal and the White, will testify. However he doesn't see that role, as the dissolute heir to a perfume business, as a breakthrough. "I suppose there might have been a sense of "Ah, he can do drama, he's a proper actor now." But nothing really changed for me. Drama seems to get more respect than comedy.That's not something I agree with, but it's the way things are. Moone Boy starts on 14 September on Sky1 at 9.30pm.