Perdita
12-12-2008, 09:06
Whether it was as the camp, ego-maniac, wannabe popstar Mr G, bitchy school bully Ja'mie or foul-mouthed, genital-drawing Tongan Jonah, Chris Lilley provided a large chunk of the funniest TV moments of 2008. We gave the Australian comic behind Summer Heights High and The Nominees a call to ask about the inspiration for his characters and find out what future projects he has in store.
Are you surprised that Summer Heights High translated so well to the UK and America?
"I'm so glad it has, but it was never the intention. It was always intended to be just a little Australian show. I'd done a show previously and I always thought, 'This will the show everyone hates'. I thought everyone would say, 'This isn't as good as the first one'. Somehow in Australia it just took off. It had twice as many people as watched the last one. It's been so big in Australia it's freaked me out."
Is it true you turned down the offer of an American remake?
"Oh yeah. They wanted to do that with the previous show as well. They were really persistent and really pushy about it and I couldn't think of anything worse. Not necessarily there being an American version, but just having someone else doing it and remaking it is a weird idea to me. It's not like there was just a script and then we made it. A lot of it was improvised and rewritten during the editing. It would be weird to copy that."
The characters are always so well developed, down to very small physical ticks. How long do you spend creating them?
"I spend a lot of time writing and I spend a lot of that time researching and getting out into the environment that the characters would be in. I spent a lot of time with Pacific Islander boys, just hanging with them in schools, to develop Jonah. I don’t really rehearse anything, so when it comes to playing them I try to make sure I know them well enough that it just happens. It's weird on the first day of shooting because they just come alive. Usually by the second day they are realistic."
Have you ever changed a character when you have started filming?
"We actually re-shot all the Jonah stuff after the first day because he was talking too much. Because I deal with actors who are not real people I end up having to be bossy. Jonah's mates were just guys we found in a Tongan rugby club and they had absolutely no idea what we were doing. They just thought it was great to miss school to hang around with a guy in a wig. It works with Mr G because it fits with his character, but with Jonah it's difficult to not tell everyone what they should be doing."
You hanged around with kids for Jonah, but surely you can't have met anyone quite like Mr G?
"Well actually, I did hang out with a few Mr Gs. I met quite a few in schools. Whenever I visited a school, there was someone who put their hand up to show me around and that teacher was always the big show off. They were always a Mr G type-personality, excited about meeting a guy from TV. There are a lot of deluded people who talk themselves up."
The show makes jokes around some controversial subjects. Do you enjoy provoking a reaction from viewers?
"I definitely like people to be surprised and challenged. I don't just want to upset people and shock people by saying something really outrageous. I always want it to make sense within the story and push it that little bit further. I think surprises make TV entertaining. It gives people something to discuss the next day, like 'I can't believe he left his own poo on the floor'. The press in Australia really stuck into me when it first came out and said I was being mean, but once they had seen the whole series it made sense."
Does any of the negative coverage of your shows upset you?
"At first it did. When the press first came out I actually did almost start to believe it. I just laugh it off now. There's always stuff about Jonah being a bad influence and there's the 'Ranga' thing. In the first episode, he refers to a red haired kid as 'a Ranga' and I hear people saying it all the time now in Australia. I get letters from people saying, 'My son is getting picked on and it's all your fault!"
What do you think Mr G would make of the controversies?
"As long as he saw his face in the paper he wouldn't care what was said. As long as his face is out there, he would be happy."
What are you working on at the moment?
"Just new ideas, nothing specific. It takes me ages to write stuff. I've been going at this all year. It always starts very small and eventually bubbles to the surface. I'm not locked in with any networks, I'm just waiting to find something exciting. It would be easy just to do what everyone tells me to do and make Summer Heights High 2, but I'd rather wait for something exciting to come along. I'm driving everyone crazy though because it takes me forever."
Would you ever do Summer Heights High 2?
"I haven't fully decided. One day I would like to do that, but not next. I love the idea of new characters, but I also love the idea of bringing back old ones."
There are rumours you are working on something with the characters from The Nominees. Is that true?
"I loved all those characters and I would hate to think I would never play with them again. It's just about finding the time. I was nervous about bringing back Ja'mie and Mr G from my early shows, but it worked and people seemed to like that."
The Summer Heights High soundtrack, featuring songs such as 'Naughty Girl' and 'She's A Slut', is released digitally on Monday.
Are you surprised that Summer Heights High translated so well to the UK and America?
"I'm so glad it has, but it was never the intention. It was always intended to be just a little Australian show. I'd done a show previously and I always thought, 'This will the show everyone hates'. I thought everyone would say, 'This isn't as good as the first one'. Somehow in Australia it just took off. It had twice as many people as watched the last one. It's been so big in Australia it's freaked me out."
Is it true you turned down the offer of an American remake?
"Oh yeah. They wanted to do that with the previous show as well. They were really persistent and really pushy about it and I couldn't think of anything worse. Not necessarily there being an American version, but just having someone else doing it and remaking it is a weird idea to me. It's not like there was just a script and then we made it. A lot of it was improvised and rewritten during the editing. It would be weird to copy that."
The characters are always so well developed, down to very small physical ticks. How long do you spend creating them?
"I spend a lot of time writing and I spend a lot of that time researching and getting out into the environment that the characters would be in. I spent a lot of time with Pacific Islander boys, just hanging with them in schools, to develop Jonah. I don’t really rehearse anything, so when it comes to playing them I try to make sure I know them well enough that it just happens. It's weird on the first day of shooting because they just come alive. Usually by the second day they are realistic."
Have you ever changed a character when you have started filming?
"We actually re-shot all the Jonah stuff after the first day because he was talking too much. Because I deal with actors who are not real people I end up having to be bossy. Jonah's mates were just guys we found in a Tongan rugby club and they had absolutely no idea what we were doing. They just thought it was great to miss school to hang around with a guy in a wig. It works with Mr G because it fits with his character, but with Jonah it's difficult to not tell everyone what they should be doing."
You hanged around with kids for Jonah, but surely you can't have met anyone quite like Mr G?
"Well actually, I did hang out with a few Mr Gs. I met quite a few in schools. Whenever I visited a school, there was someone who put their hand up to show me around and that teacher was always the big show off. They were always a Mr G type-personality, excited about meeting a guy from TV. There are a lot of deluded people who talk themselves up."
The show makes jokes around some controversial subjects. Do you enjoy provoking a reaction from viewers?
"I definitely like people to be surprised and challenged. I don't just want to upset people and shock people by saying something really outrageous. I always want it to make sense within the story and push it that little bit further. I think surprises make TV entertaining. It gives people something to discuss the next day, like 'I can't believe he left his own poo on the floor'. The press in Australia really stuck into me when it first came out and said I was being mean, but once they had seen the whole series it made sense."
Does any of the negative coverage of your shows upset you?
"At first it did. When the press first came out I actually did almost start to believe it. I just laugh it off now. There's always stuff about Jonah being a bad influence and there's the 'Ranga' thing. In the first episode, he refers to a red haired kid as 'a Ranga' and I hear people saying it all the time now in Australia. I get letters from people saying, 'My son is getting picked on and it's all your fault!"
What do you think Mr G would make of the controversies?
"As long as he saw his face in the paper he wouldn't care what was said. As long as his face is out there, he would be happy."
What are you working on at the moment?
"Just new ideas, nothing specific. It takes me ages to write stuff. I've been going at this all year. It always starts very small and eventually bubbles to the surface. I'm not locked in with any networks, I'm just waiting to find something exciting. It would be easy just to do what everyone tells me to do and make Summer Heights High 2, but I'd rather wait for something exciting to come along. I'm driving everyone crazy though because it takes me forever."
Would you ever do Summer Heights High 2?
"I haven't fully decided. One day I would like to do that, but not next. I love the idea of new characters, but I also love the idea of bringing back old ones."
There are rumours you are working on something with the characters from The Nominees. Is that true?
"I loved all those characters and I would hate to think I would never play with them again. It's just about finding the time. I was nervous about bringing back Ja'mie and Mr G from my early shows, but it worked and people seemed to like that."
The Summer Heights High soundtrack, featuring songs such as 'Naughty Girl' and 'She's A Slut', is released digitally on Monday.