Jonathan Pryce has revealed his penguin co-star kept going off-script and “walking away” from him while filming their scene in The Penguin Lessons.

In the 1970s comedy-drama, Steve Coogan plays a teacher in Argentina who rescues a penguin from an oil slick and reluctantly takes it back to the boarding school as his pet.

Pryce, who plays Headmaster Buckle, shared one scene with the penguin, and he admitted it refused to do what it was supposed to.

“I had one scene with the penguin really. An intense scene where I’m using the penguin as kind of a therapist figure, to tell him about my woes and my problems,” he explained in an interview with Cover Media. “The penguin refused to stay in the room with me and kept walking away as soon as I started speaking. Of course, when you see the film, you won’t be aware of that. It was funny rather than trying, seeing the penguin walk away.”

Coogan, who had significantly more scenes with the penguin, noted that it didn’t do what the team needed 85% of the time, so they had to be patient and be “ready” for when their co-star acted on cue 15% of the time.

The Game of Thrones actor quipped, “It’s not unlike most of the actors I’ve worked with.”

Speaking about their on-screen collaboration, Pryce told Cover Media that he knew he’d get along well with Coogan upon their first meeting on set, while the Alan Partridge star praised Pryce for raising his game.

“When you’re in a scene with someone who you know knows what they’re doing and is good at it, it just raises your game. You concentrate,” he shared. “You also trust that the person you’re working with, like Jonathan, you know he knows what he’s doing and therefore you sort of feel secure in that scene because you think, ‘I’m dealing with someone that’s good so I better be good’ so it all becomes a virtuous circle.”

The Penguin Lessons is only in cinemas from Friday 18 April.

© Cover Media