Steve Coogan stars in The Penguin Lessons, which is based on the 2016 memoir of a British teacher who rescued a penguin from an oil spill on a beach. Credit: Sony Pictures Classics

When actor Steve Coogan and screenwriter Jeff Pope work together, great things happen.

The best example is when Coogan starred in the 2013 drama Philomena, which he and Pope wrote together. The film earned the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Now, the duo has reunited for new comedy-drama The Penguin Lessons.

Adapted by Pope from author Tom Michell’s 2016 memoir of the same name, the film stars Coogan as Tom, a British teacher who takes a job at an elite boarding school in Argentina in 1976 during the country’s coup d’état. Disheartened by a past tragedy, Tom finds his spirit again when he rescues a penguin from an oil spill on the beach.

During a recent interview with the Current, Coogan, 59, whose films include Night at the Museum, In the Loop and Hamlet 2, talked about why he was initially hesitant about taking on the role, how he bonded with his penguin co-star and what it took to learn some of his lines in Spanish.

The Penguin Lessons is currently playing at local theaters.

What ultimately got you to say yes to a movie that you weren’t sure you wanted to do?

I didn’t know if I wanted to be in a film about a cuddly penguin. It didn’t sound like my thing at all. But [Jeff and I] talked more about it. I went and visited Buenos Aires. I remembered the history of the military dictatorship. I thought maybe there was a film about this dark, tumultuous time, and the penguin could be a bit of light relief — a symbiosis where the darkness of the political situation stops the penguin from being cuddly, and the penguin stops the discussion about malevolent forces.

What spoke to you the most about Tom’s memoir?

That he used the penguin as a tool to enlighten people. What seemed like a burden could actually be something that liberates you. We made [Tom] cynical and battle-hardened and disengaged from the world so we had somewhere for him to go. He ended up connecting with [his students] in a much more meaningful way because of this small, furry animal. The penguin became the catalyst that changes his attitude.

You have to be an animal lover to agree to work with a penguin, right?

I am. I have dogs and cats. I’m one of those guys. When we first started the film, I had to bond with the penguins. So, I went to visit them in this very nice place where they’re looked after. There are two hero penguins called Baba and Richard, who played the main penguin. I would greet them every morning, so they could hear my voice and make sure they got used to me. I liked seeing them in the morning. I liked talking to them in some ways. It actually benefited me as a person, not just as an actor. It calms you down. It’s a good way to start the day: chatting to a penguin with a coffee in your hand.

What did you learn about penguins as co-stars?

They have a mating cycle and a molting cycle, so you have to get them at the right time so as not to cause them any distress. On an anecdotal level, I learned about their inscrutability. In the film, we talk about mindfulness. You look at a penguin and think, “He doesn’t have any anxiety about the past [or] the future. He’s just in the moment.” That’s what I took from it: that I need to be more like the penguin.

What was the experience like learning some of your lines in Spanish?

I’m not a Spanish speaker. I studied it for a year 45 years ago. I knew enough about the pronunciation and what certain words meant. I learned it phonetically and had a coach. There was an entirely Spanish[-speaking] crew who were impressed. They came up and patted me on the back and went, “You sounded like a native.” So, it was fun, and it was a challenge.

You’ve played a teacher before. Did it come naturally to you since in this film you play it more like Dead Poets Society and less like Dana Marschz, the teacher you play in Hamlet 2?

Yeah, I feel quite comfortable playing a teacher. I guess I’m probably more like Tom Michell than [my character] in Hamlet 2. But my brother and sister are teachers. A lot of people with Irish Catholic backgrounds from down the social classes became teachers as a way out of poverty. I’d like to think if I had been a teacher, I would have been a pretty good one.

Speaking of Hamlet 2, what do you think Mr. Marschz would be up to if you checked on him today?

I think he’d be engaged in the community. He was naïve, but he was the supreme optimist. He might be running a community theater group, trying to inspire young people. And he would totally bring a penguin in the classroom.

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This article appears in Apr 2-15, 2025.