‘Westminster is where I’m most recognised’: Chris Addison on life after The Thick of It

Is Chris Addison a famous face? The honest answer, he admits, is it depends where he is. In mainstream Britain, he enjoys a decent enough profile as an affable comic and actor. Over in America, where he’s been making it as a director, he’s less recognisable. But in one London postcode, he’s a veritable A-lister.

‘It was like being in a Hollywood movie,’ he laughs, as he recalls a walk across Westminster shortly after starring in the first season of The Thick Of It as the hapless junior SpAD Ollie. ‘Everywhere I went people were going “it’s him! It’s him!” – much more than anywhere else I’d been.’ That cult fame has followed him ever since – at least in SW1.

You can see why. Almost ten years on from its conclusion, Armando Iannucci’s political satire remains a universal reference point in Westminster. While Addison and his fellow stars started off playing characters inspired by the late-Blair/Brown/Cameron era, they ended up being more recognisable than most of those they were parodying.