Comedy superstar Matt Lucas opens up on his Les Miserables role

He became a global superstar in comedy juggernaut Little Britain, but now, as he turns his hand to “heavy” stage show Les Miserables, Matt Lucas says he “feels like a comedian again”.

Matt Lucas plays Thenardier in the Arena Spectacular of Les Miserables. Picture: Jonathan Ng

His most famous character, the disability-feigning Andy Pipkin, is selfish, impatient and demanding. Pipkin’s creator, British comedy superstar Matt Lucas, is the total opposite.

“I’m quite low maintenance, actually,” the quietly spoken Lucas told the Herald Sun.

“I don’t have a magnum of champagne in my dressing room. There’s no caviar. And I share my dressing room with two other people anyway. If I had caviar,” he adds, joking, “I wouldn’t get any because they’d eat it.”

Lucas is in Sydney, starring in Les Miserables The Arena Spectacular, an in-concert version of the beloved musical, which opens in Melbourne on May 14, and Brisbane on May 28.

Based on the Victor Hugo novel, with music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, Les Miserables follows several characters through early to mid-19th century France as they seek redemption for their sins and an escape from poverty.

Matt Lucas and Marina Prior on stage for Les Misérables. Picture: Daniel Boud

The lead roles of Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert are shared, respectively, by London theatre royalty Alfie Boe and Killian Donnelly, and Michael Ball and Bradley Jaden. Lucas’s comedic villain, Thenardier, and his wicked wife, played by Australian stage favourite Marina Prior, lend hilarious detours and levity to an otherwise dark show.

“Les Miserables is quite a heavy piece, but Thenardier is fun,” Lucas says.

“And doing it in concert means facing the audience. It feels I’m like a comedian again, which is how I started out. It feels a bit like … a stand-up comic.

“This is a sung-through musical, so there’s not many breaks where you can go rogue. You have to keep the momentum of the piece.

“It’s a little bit different to those musicals where people talk, then there’s a song, then they talk more. You have to be quite disciplined, I do improvise a little bit, and throw in a few gags. But it’s not the Matt Lucas show,” he says, grinning. “I have to honour the piece.”

Matt Lucas and David Walliams shot to global superstardom as the co-creators of Little Britain.

Lucas and David Walliams shot to global superstardom as the co-creators of Little Britain, a fearless sketch comedy juggernaut that aired between 2003 and 2006.

However, in 2020, some streaming services removed Little Britain following complaints about blackface, fat-shaming and racial stereotyping on the show.

“Political correctness, as in respecting other people, is a positive thing,” Walliams told the Herald Sun last year.

“But if it’s the policing of ideas and jokes, it becomes complicated because we all have different sensitivities. People are taking comedy too seriously – and literally.”

Last month, British reports claimed Lucas and Walliams were working on a new version of Little Britain.

Lucas and Helen Walsh in Les Miserables. Picture: Getty Images

The Sun quoted Lucas as saying: “The show will be different in many ways. We are talking about how we can have diverse talent on screen and in the writer’s room and conceive it as something which is just not about me and David playing absolutely everyone. That is something we should have done but didn’t do back then.”

Walliams told the Herald Sun his preference would be a Little Britain tour. “We definitely want to revisit those characters,” Walliams said.

“They’re funny characters. They’re loved by people. But they’ve got to work in with this moment in time. I doubt we’ll do a TV series but we might choose to do a tour.”

Currently in Sydney, Lucas said he was working on a stage musical version of his novel, The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas. Lucas wrote and recorded 20 songs to accompany the book.

“I really want it to be a stage musical,” he said. “I’m in the process of adapting it for the stage. But adapting musicals is a really long process. It takes years and years and years.”

Lucas has made a list of must-do Melbourne meets and eats when he hits town next week. “You have such a great tradition of comedy in Melbourne,” he said. “I am excited to reconnect with people.”

Lucas says the show is beautifully written. Picture: Getty Images

Lucas has incredible memories of his first visit to Melbourne with Walliams, when the duo was hosted by Australian comedy icon Barry Humphries.

Humphries welcomed, wined and dined Lucas and Walliams during their 2007 Australian tour, attending their show at Melbourne Park and taking them to lunch at the Flower Drum the following day.

“Barry Humphries was an extraordinary human being and I had to pinch myself whenever I was in his presence,” Lucas said.

“We talked about comedy but also about art, food, travel, books, and also met his lovely family. He was like royalty. Wherever you went with him, people’s faces lit up.”

Lucas says it’s a ‘great honour’ to be part of Les Miserables because you get the best of everything. Picture: Daniel Boud

Lucas’s catch-up wishlist reads like a who’s who of comedy: Gina Riley, Jane Turner, Magda Szubanski, Shaun Micallef, Frank Woodley, Kitty Flanagan and Mark Trevorrow.

His sweet tooth is also craving a local delicacy.

“I hope to sample more of (Melbourne chef) Darren Purchese’s incredible cakes,” Lucas said. “They’re the finest I have ever tasted.”

Meanwhile, Lucas says Les Miserables is the greatest spectacle on the theatre stage.

He has played Thenardier in 2010, 2019 and 2020 British productions, and now the 2025 Australian shows.

“It’s a great honour to be part of Les Miserables because you get the best of everything,” he said.

“The show is beautifully written, the tunes are catchy and rousing, and the lyrics are insightful witty and smart. Really, it’s a privilege to be asked back to do it. I never ever think twice. If they ask me, and I can, I’m always here.”