Double Trouble: Richard Ayoade talks about his new film

Richard Ayoade has always seemed drawn to characters who tread a line between intelligence and social ineptitude: witness his turn as Moss on the The IT Crowd. The oddball characters in his witty directorial debut, Submarine, experience a similar chasm between their self-image and the face they present to the world. Now, his sophomore film, an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s The Double, tells of a painfully insecure office worker confronted with a replica of himself – only more charming and popular.

Ayoade himself is not socially inept. On the contrary, he’s polite and unfailingly agreeable. However, unlike his confident, dry, comedic personality as a performer, he’s rather shy, speaking in a near-whisper. In spite of the gulf between his professional and personal selves, he claims this wasn’t what drew him to Dostoevsky’s dark comedy about identity: the prospect of confronting his own doppelgänger never occupied his thoughts.

“I lived in Ipswich so the idea of being faced with another Norwegian-Nigerian was not something I felt I was likely to encounter,” he remarks, smiling. “It was just that the idea seemed very funny. A replica of someone could appear and no-one notices or cares. That seemed so unusual and brilliant. It should be dramatic with a lot of confusion. It’s not. It doesn’t provoke any reaction – which is so much worse for the individual in question.”

However, now that he’s spending an increasing spell in the limelight, in the presence of famous peers, he says the film’s exploration of the ways in which our sense of self is tied to “external recognition” perhaps have a heightened relevance. After all, he now inhabits a universe driven by celebrity and social status.

“You know that show, Who Do You Think You Are?” he ponders. “I always think it’s apposite to agree to be on that show in the first place – as in, yeah who are you? Who are you to be worthy of study? It’s odd, the idea of identity and validation. There’s that clichéd situation of a celebrity trying to get into a bar and they can’t, and say ‘Don’t you know who I am?!’ But if the person doesn’t know who you are, you aren’t anyone. Identity relies on recognition.” He pauses. “I mean, all these ideas are in the book and weren’t any less interesting back then... but if people think I’ve discovered a new modern layer in it, I’ll pretend I’m a genius.”

He sings the praise of his lead actor Jesse Eisenberg, comparing him to Meryl Streep in his ability to be both technically and emotionally proficient. “They often don’t go together,” he observes. “Some actors can be very clever and technically accomplished but are self-conscious or too cold and controlled to be emotionally open.” He is more comfortable behind the camera than in front, it turns out.

“Acting is not something I feel I have particular aptitude for,” he says. “With the IT Crowd, my task was to deliver Graham Linehan’s jokes as he envisioned. I saw my job as ensuring he was happy. That’s my role, and it’s an odd one. You’re constantly unsure whether it’s good or not. You’re judging it by someone else’s standards. Not that I’m ever really at ease – but comparatively, I feel more at ease writing and directing. I feel more in control of that.”

One gets the sense he still enjoys telling the story of the social underdog, and revelling in the implicit confl icts and confusions.

“You want a character to be in trouble in some way. Characters who find the world easy are not great anecdote material. I doubt there were a lot of hilarious stories about Brad Pitt growing up. ‘Oh, he was really handsome, and everyone laughed at his jokes, then he worked out for a bit...’ It doesn’t seem that interesting unless something bad happens. Laurel and Hardy being able to deliver the piano safely is not interesting.”

So in many ways, the shy and conflicted Ayoade is far more interesting and worthy than Brad Pitt. “Well, obviously. Did I not lead with that?”

The Double is in cinemas from April 4