‘They said: there’s this part … he’s an idiot!’ SNL UK’s Freddie Meredith on his unlikely route to comedy’s big leagues

A few months ago, he was pulling pints.

How did he end up writing for Sharon Horgan, acting with Jeff Goldblum and storming the West End? Until a few weeks ago, Freddie Meredith’s IMDb page was full of names like “Seb” and “George” and “Philip Noonan”.

Lately, however, it’s started saying things like “Olly Murs” and “Liam Gallagher”.

The characters that aren’t listed are even weirder: perhaps you’ve come across his recent turn as an east London mosquito? Or Jeff Goldblum’s troubled nephew? How about the tech billionaire tasked with introducing King Charles to a new AI assistant who looks exactly like Diana, Princess of Wales? It’s not just Meredith’s online CV that has had a radical overhaul.

At the start of this summer, the 33-year-old was working in a bar, where he would sometimes get recognised by fans of Bafta-winning BBC sitcom Such Brave Girls, in which he played the protagonist’s ludicrously tenacious boyfriend.

He mimics punters’ confusion at seeing a guy off the TV serving them: “What’s happened to you?!” Continue reading...