"We have the face and the same height, and that’s it," says Blake Harrison of his character Neil, arguably the most dimwitted, but strangely successful with the ladies, of the 'Inbetweeners' quartet, back in the cinemas this week with their film sequel.
"Some of the things that boy gets confused about is beyond belief," reflects Blake, definitely more aware and sensitive than his screen counterpart. "I took different elements of different people I knew to come up with him."
Neil (Blake Harrison, right) with fellow Inbetweeners James Buckley, Simon Bird and Joe Thomas
Blake is obviously fond of Neil, though. "He will never grow up. He forgets things that happens two minutes ago. It's a lovely way to live your life, really. He doesn't worry about the past or the future. Bad stuff does happen (like the time Neil thought he might be going to be a father) but he seems to have the ability to brush it off."
What of the new film, and the weight of expectation after the first big screen outing brought in a surprise box office bounty, making it the biggest British summer film ever? The follow-up sees Blake Harrison and his cohorts Simon Bird, Joe Thomas and James Buckley take their cool ways to Australia, to mix with the locals and, of course, find themselves.
More of the same, Blake promises, but Down Under
"We know we've got a hell of a lot of fans very excited about it, and we take that very seriously," says Blake. "There are a lot of people we could let down.
"We never expected to do another film, it’s only the lovely pressure of fans to have it, there’s such a market that really really want it, they’re really going to want it be good. There’s a huge amount of goodwill out there.
"And I genuinely don’t think we’re going to let them down."
Will Neil and his cohorts suffer the same kind of rite-of-passage fare that saw them drink, fight, romance their way through Crete's tourist-friendly town of Malia in the first one, only this time Down Under? Blake assures me there is plenty where that came from...
"There are plenty of mishaps that people will be watching through their fingers and cringing."
'The Inbetweeners 2' will be in cinemas from Wednesday 6 August. Watch the trailer below...