Ricky Gervais is taking a year off from making movies and sitcoms.
The 55-year-old star has revealed his intention to solely focus on his stand-up comedy tour, ‘Humanity’, in 2017, rather than writing and starring in his own movies and sitcoms.
The British funnyman wrote on Twitter: "No more new movies or sitcoms for at least a year from me – Stand Up all the way in 2017! (sic)"
Ricky has created a number of money-spinning sitcom series during his award-winning career, including ‘The Office’, ‘Extras’ and ‘Derek’, while he has also played a starring role in ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ and ‘Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb’.
However, the multi-talented entertainer has also enjoyed considerable success as a stand-up comedian, having previously recorded four live shows in the UK that each had a distinctive theme, ‘Science’, ‘Animals’, ‘Politics’ and ‘Fame’.
Ricky’s announcement comes shortly after he admitted he has always "feared fame" and constantly worries about being labelled a "horrible" celebrity.
Ricky – whose eagerly awaited ‘Humanity’ stand-up tour begins in February – revealed he is overly-nice in public so people don’t think he’s an unkind guy.
He previously shared: "I’m terrified that I’ll be running for a train and someone asks for a selfie and I would miss the train, just as I won’t now send the soup back even if it’s cold, because I don’t want a single person out there to say, ‘Ricky Gervais was horrible.’ I just think that would be so unfair. Because I am a nice guy.
"I was happy when I wasn’t famous. But there was potential of that because I feared fame. I feared being lumped in with people who would do anything to be famous."