Sudden wealth was not an easy fit for Ricky Gervais, the boy from the projects who struck it rich with his international television hit, "The Office." In one of the only serious moments in the interview with Lesley Stahl, the comedian says the first big check he received for the show "ruined it a bit" for him.  The interview will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday,  Dec. 13 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

          Gervais is proud of the show, but not the money it makes him.  "When I did ‘The office,' I was so proud.  Then the check came in and it ruined it a bit, because I didn't want people to think that was mixed in with my pride," he tells Stahl.

            One of four children of a laborer who had to raise his family in a public housing project, Gervais is sensitive to his wealth and aware of his good fortune.  "I am not proud of being rich. There's nothing wrong with being rich...I was lucky," he says. "Why am I paid a million times a nurse's wages? Because I came up with a formula that sold?"

            "The Office" began as a student project Gervais did at the age of 40 with a friend he met working in an office.   It took off after the BBC in Britain picked it up and Gervais eventually licensed the sitcom internationally, where it airs in more than 100 countries, including the U.S., France, Chile and Canada.  He branched off into films and stand-up comedy at which he has also been highly successful.  He owns a $6 million house in London and recently moved into a large New York apartment.

            "There are people who work as hard as me and they haven't got that because they don't do what I do," he tells Stahl.  "They don't do show business."     

            The new found wealth and star status often put him in contact with British upper crust types, among whom he still feels uncomfortable.  "I still feel it a little bit sometimes if I am with very, very, over-privileged people," he tells Stahl. "I still think they are waiting for me to pick up the wrong fork."

            Stahl's profile of Gervais contains hilarious footage of the British version of "The Office," and a trip to the zoo in New York City, where the comedian finds funny props for his humor among the penguins and polar bears.  Watch an excerpt.

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