In our exclusive interview, Gavin and Stacey extra Kyle Lima reveals what it's like behind the scenes on one of the UK’s best-loved sitcoms.
Gavin and Stacey has cemented its status as one of the UK’s best-loved sitcoms since first hitting screens in 2008, drawing in nearly 20 million viewers for the Christmas special finale episode in 2024.
Written by James Corden and Ruth Jones, who starred as Neil ‘Smithy’ Smith and Nessa Jenkins, the show also made household names of Joanna Page as Stacey, Mat Horne as Gavin, and Rob Brydon as Uncle Bryn.
But what is it really like to work on set with the cast? Actor Kyle Lima got to peek behind the curtain when he starred in the 2019 Christmas Special as one of Nessa’s former flames.
Speaking to Betway Casino, he reveals all about the cast’s special bond, the ‘pinch me’ moment he enjoyed with James Corden and the actor who insists on staying in character throughout the shoot.
Have you been a fan of Gavin and Stacey from the start?
I was a huge fan because I was in drama school at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. I’m also from Cardiff, and they hadn’t really been a kind of Cardiff-accented television programme of prominence that I’d seen growing up. I remember in 2006 we all huddled around the TV and watched the first episode, and I was buzzing really because I was like, ‘Oh, she sounds like my mum. She sounds like my auntie.’ So that bit of representation was cool. From there, I just wanted to be in it. I absolutely loved Gavin and Stacey and was an avid fan. I watched it over and over again until I eventually got the opportunity to be in it.
Did any actors have specific requirements?
No, because it was filmed on location in a kind of real arcade. I think because they had cordoned off most of the area to the public, there wasn’t any excess noise or much. A lot of the crew have worked on it from its first incarnation. You just felt like everyone knew each other, and there was a friendly tone to it. So, no, there wasn’t any kind of additional hustle and bustle as far as I remember.
Who was the most different from their character?
Ruth Jones, because Nessa is kind of quite stoic and has this charm to her. Ruth can slip into that brilliantly, but knowing her in between action and cut, she’s lovely and warm, and I will forever be so grateful for that opportunity to work with her, because she really is now an icon.
What would fans at home be surprised to know about working on the show?
I hadn’t been to Barry Island for a while since I was a kid. What they have to do is because of the popularity of Gavin and Stacey, there’s a lot of iconography put up around Barry for tourism. So they have to cover that up when shooting scenes. So it was quite fun to see that. I brought my own clothes when I filmed my scene. The vest that I wore in the show was my own vest.
Who is your favourite character?
Probably Nessa because she’s like she’s the most Cardiff accented. She’s the one who’s the most similar to people I’ve grown up around and known. So, Nessa was the figurehead of the kind of Welsh representation of that kind. Ruth’s character is like an older sister figure in the show, really. I always gravitate towards people like her. She had great lines. And Doris, I really loved Doris’s one-liners; she will be remembered by everyone for a very long time.
Who appeared to have the closest bond?
I only saw the cast for a limited amount of time. From an outsider standpoint, Ruth and James obviously have a lovely connection, a lovely bond. They’ve been friends for so many years, I think that started when they both worked on ‘Fat Friends.’ I suppose without their closeness, Gavin and Stacey just really wouldn’t even exist.
What is James Corden really like behind the scenes?
I was already a fan of James beforehand, but meeting him just made me become a fanboy. He was really nice. I was invited to a small screening of the Christmas special with the cast and sat behind him. He took the time to turn around to me after and congratulate me on my performance, which was a real ‘pinch-me’ moment.
Who was the nicest to work with, and who was most difficult to work with?
Ruth’s character, Nessa, is an entity. You know, she has an aura. So Ruth keeps this kind of persona. Not all day, she does break character in between shots, and she was very warm and lovely. So I couldn’t say anyone was more lovely than anyone else. It was funny to watch Ruth because in between shots, she’d go out to the crowd and say, ‘Yeah, oh, keep the volume down?’ But have a little joke with everyone else.
I think in the cab on the way home, I was chatting with Joanna Page, and she was so excited to have been revisiting her character, Stacey. I told her she was the Princess Leia of Wales. She’s become such an iconic character and actress.
