By Saxon Cheng
Angry Boys funnyman Chris Lilley opens up to RALPH in a candid interview about Katy Perry, censorship, critics and cracking up midway through a scene.
You play so many diverse characters. Which is the toughest?
They all have their challenges. I've played Daniel and Nathan Sims [17-year-old twins] before in
We Can Be Heroes, so they were the easiest. Gran [juvenile prison officer] was particularly hard, especially in the outfit and having to control all those boys. S.Mouse [African-American rapper] was difficult and tricky due to the music, having American actors and being a black person in an American family. At the same time, it's all fun.
Do you ever just crack up laughing midway through a scene?
I do, but I quickly turn my head away, get over it and come back. We very rarely have to cut from laughter, we keep rolling. It's usually at the most inappropriate times. There are some dramatic scenes with Gran later in the series and I can't stop smirking. When I played Jen Okazaki [Japanese mother-manager of her skateboarding son], Tim Okazaki (Jordan Dang) couldn't stop laughing and Jen's screaming abuse at him. It was tricky to get through that scene, as there was a lot of laughter.
The critics have been pretty harsh saying Angry Boys is "not that funny", but the show rated quite highly and your first episode was watched by 1.4 million viewers. How do you feel about this?
I think there was so much expectation with the last show and its journalists being smart arses. More people have watched this than anything I've ever done. It is a heavier show and goes into darker places — it's meant to be entertaining not just funny. I don't want to repeat myself and if I had done
Summer Heights High Two, the critics would have bagged that too.
Angry Boys may not be for everyone, but certainly the numbers are showing most people are pretty supportive.
How much research goes into your characters?
A fair bit. I like to make sure everything is accurate. Usually I invent the character out of nothing. It must be some instinctive thing that I'm interested in and when I'm writing the show I like to check up on things. I spent some time with a family who had a teenage boy who was deaf and I spoke to many surfers, Japanese women and prison officers. I watched a lot of documentaries and read a lot about prisons. I cast a lot of real people and found out the lingo, because often they're pretty close to the
characters they're playing.
Did any of the boys from Garingal Juvenile Justice Centre serve real time?
No, but we went out to the suburbs, schools, country towns and organisations with Aboriginal kids, who were ready to go into an environment and think it was a real prison. You don't find those boys in acting agencies and I didn't want rough-looking white kids.
You certainly push the boundaries of political incorrectness with Gran's references to "negro" and an Aboriginal boy "sniffing petrol". Would you say your style is shock comedy?
Funny is the most important thing for me, with a little bit confronting and shocking. I like entertainment that's challenging and something that's a new idea that I can pull off.
While on the subject, is S.Mouse's song 'Smack My Elbow' supposed to be a metaphor for masturbation?
[Laughs] I haven't heard that one yet. If it does sound that way, it's unintentional, but I like that idea. It wasn't planned, but he does encourage the kids to 'Smack My Elbow'.
With HBO on board, it seems like they have given you a shedload of cash for production. Is this why you created S.Mouse — to cater to the US market and be able to produce expensive music clips?
No, the film clips weren't that expensive and I wrote the show without the intention for being for a particular market. It's more about looking at it through a teenager's eyes, their culture and the idea of Daniel and Nathan's wall of legends and their heroes coming to the farm. I thought one of them has to be a rapper and that took me into that world. Part of the appeal in America is that the show is Australian and they understood it. I do stuff that I think I would like to watch on TV, not who's my market and audience.
As the BBC has also bought the show, do you think the Poms and Yanks will understand your sense of humour?
They loved
Summer Heights High and I feel
Angry Boys is an extension of that. I reckon they will be into it. When I talk to Americans, they say, "It's funny and we're not idiots".
Well Katy Perry said she was a fan of your work at the Logies.
Yeah, she may have been tipped off by her publicist, but I did have to sign various DVDs at the Logies. There were various demands from the Perry camp.
We hope you signed Katy's boobs. After watching your shows, your humour is quite similar to RALPH. What do you think?
Yeah, I noticed that. I used to read the magazine and tell people how funny it was. We obviously share a similar sense of humour.
Thank you for choosing a hot RALPH model for Daniel's wall of legends. What made you choose Sally Arnott, aka Emily Chase?
I had a whole bunch of pictures that I had clearance to use and I had a look in mind. These are white boys from the country and they're going to want this type of pose. I also thought she had the right look, the kind of girl Daniel would imagine himself with. She's blonde and got the big, um, everything [laughs]!
Sexy bikini pics of Angry Boys babe
Finally, is anything taboo to you?
No, not really. I want it to be funny and not mean or upset people. It can't just be harsh and nasty. I like to mess around with the taboos and I'm surprised ABC lets me get away with it. I'm just waiting for the call, to say, "No, you can't get your balls out." We wanted to be M-rated and we thought the censorship guys would come back with an MA. But they said, "It's all good, it's comedy, we get it." There were a few porn shots on Daniel's computer that I had to pixelate a bit more, though.
Your say: What's been your funniest scene from Angry Boys?
º In a couple of weeks, RALPH.com.au will feature part two of this interview with Chris Lilley where he talks about the Logies, Bra Boys, rangas and the future of Summer Heights High.
Angry Boys is on the ABC every Wednesday, 9pm.
