As Benny G in BoyTown, Mick Molloy’s film about a reformed boy band, Glenn Robbins adds to his ever-growing cast of comedic characters.
Does Benny G fulfil some deep ambition you might once have had to be a pop star?
Good question. I didn’t realise it did until I was on stage at Festival Hall [while filming] and I was bumping and grinding up there while 150 girls were screaming at us. I thought, “You know what, I like this; I could have a bit more of this gear.”
You have new-found respect for boy band members?
You know that thing where you tap your head and rub your stomach at the same time, and it’s actually quite hard? That’s how I felt the entire time I was on stage, because I had to sing and dance at the same time and it was really hard. My admiration for those blokes went up a hundredfold. My little mouse brain was working overtime to get those dance moves right and lip synch at the same time. We did weeks and weeks of rehearsal and then they go,”OK, now we’re going to pick up microphones and lip synch. My brain just closed down and I went, I’m f-ked. There’s no way I can do both of those at the same time!
Did you manage to invent any signature Benny G moves
in BoyTown?
I did actually. Because I’m not a dancer I had to throw some Russell Coight in there. With one move, I had to imagine myself getting through a barbed wire fence. We called that “Under the Fence”. Then there’s another move where I have to imagine myself putting my head through a basketball ring which is just off to the left and another just off to the right, so there were two moves I like to think are mine. Then there were your old standards like “Feeding the Chooks” and “The Robot”.
Do you want to revisit your old characters like Uncle Arthur or Russell Coight, or do you prefer to be creating new ones?
I was lucky enough to do Uncle Arthur on The Panel last year and if you do it for the right reasons, like for charity or something, it can be a lot of fun. It can also go awfully wrong because it can slip very quickly into indulgence and you don’t realise you’re a bit out of touch. But I enjoyed it and a bit more of that action wouldn’t go astray.
What does BoyTown tell us about Australian mateship?
It says that once you’re a mate, you’re a mate and you’re always a mate. You’ve been through the thick and thin of it together and that never dies. All that happens in this film. Sure, a few things come to the surface, and they lay a few ghosts to rest, but that’s what Aussie mateship is all about. Getting up there and doing it for the band.
How do you get inside the heads your characters?
I studied drama for four years and all I can say is that I didn’t learn anything. My process for acting is to keep it pretty much unconscious. I feed unconscious stuff into what I need for them, learn the lines and then deliver on the day. I try to draw on elements of myself in small ways. There’s a small bit of me in Russell Coight and Kel Knight, a there’s a lot of me in Benny G and Uncle Arthur.
Where do you create them, on the throne?
Quite honestly, I think a lot about them in the car. I’ll drop into character and just start talking. On the train… well, I like to get the train over with as quickly as possible. You just roll it around and roll it around until it feels right. I just work out what his motivations are, what he cares about, and let the rest take care of itself.
Which character do punters quote back at you most?
It’s mostly Russell Coight and Kel Knight [from
Kath and Kim]. The blokes go more for Coight and the girls go for
Kath and Kim. Then I have to respond appropriately. Sometimes I don’t know what show they’re talking about. They go, “I really like the show” and I go, “Which one?”
Are you a happy-to-sign-autographs kind of guy, or would you prefer to be left alone?
More than happy to sign ‘em. I just don’t like it when you’re chomping into your steak, you know, you’re just about to put it into your mouth and someone goes, “My daughter really loves you!” and you go, “Um, can I just…” You know when a dog’s eating his food and if you get close, he’s like [makes growling noises]. That’s what I’m like around my food. Any other time I’m fine.
You were once a teacher. Were you a funny teacher?
I think I took myself a tad too seriously actually, but I do remember one time when there was a kid up the back of the class and he was being a smartarse and I said to him, “You know what, when I was at school I was exactly like you - the guy up the back with all the one-liners. But you know what? I was so much better than you. My writing was better, my timing was better. If you want to do the smartarse material you’d better do some homework, buddy, ‘cos what you’re doing right now… get some new writers, buddy.” He shut up for the rest of the term.
When you did stand-up, did you do a lot of “Have you ever noticed…”
stuff?
Did a lot of that gear. It’s an easy get-out sometimes. I think Homer Simpson was quintessential when he was watching a comedy show on TV and he said, [puts on Homer Simpson voice] “Oh, it’s so funny because it’s true.” So many comedians get away with stand-up by just making a reference to things rather than dissecting it and looking at from some other angle. Some people do it incredibly well, of course.
We named Mick Molloy our greatest bloke ever in RALPH a few issues back – did we make the right call?
Absolutely. You want to have a good time? For three days in a row? Call Mick Molloy. If he hasn’t done it already in life, he’s about to do it… on every level. Strap yourself in! His 40th was fantastic. We surfed during the day and we drank at night. It doesn’t come any better. I wore my thongs to the party. He’s a great man.
You were once in some episodes of Prisoner back in the ‘80s. Did you ever knock over one of the cardboard sets, just for laughs?
I remember that. That was when I was having some dental work done. How stupid is this? I was having work done on my teeth and I couldn’t talk properly and they said, “Do you want some work?” And because I didn’t have any, I said, “Yeah” and I couldn’t talk! How stupid am I? Someone said to me, saw you on the show the other day and you sounded funny. I did get shot in that show, too.
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