There’s a lot more to Simon “Will from The Inbetweeners” Bird than meets the eye. As he’s said himself, he’ll probably never quite get away from his role at the posh one with the briefcase in three Channel 4 series and two films of Iain Morris and Damon Beesley’s teenage-angst-ridden sitcom. Although he had a damn good try as slightly less annoying son, Adam, in six series of Channel 4’s gone, but not forgotten, Friday Night Dinner.
Bird made his West End debut in 2017’s The Philanthropist with Charlotte “Ghosts” Ritchie, Lily Cole, Tom Rosenthal and Matt “Toast of London” Berry. In a three-star review, the Guardian’s Michael Billington described Bird’s performance as: “Funny rather than sad. Previous inhabitants of the role, including Alec McCowen and Simon Russell Beale, have made me think of Chekhov. Bird, sitting with knees locked firmly together and a compulsive grin on his face, evokes memories of Mr Bean.”
