In part two of this candid interview with funny bastard Chris Lilley, he opens up to RALPH about the pitfalls of stardom, Angry Boy characters, rangas and the future of Summer Heights High.
After Angry Boys, do you have any plans to bring back a second season of Summer Heights High?
Maybe, I don't know. I thought after
Summer Heights High I've explored so much of this school and I want to explore other worlds and write about different things. I've played those characters in a couple of different shows and it can be a continuing thing, rather than the show. Who knows? One day, as I really like the show.
Do you get sick of people reciting lines from the show?
No, that's my favourite thing as people will yell out lines when I'm walking down the street. Jonah's "puck you" is probably the biggest one, followed by Jai'me's "oh my God, it's so random". I get blamed for "ranga", which was around before the show, but I don't think it was that well known. I get in trouble from any redhead. I've had letters from angry parents who said, "You have ruined my child's life."
Did Jonah end up getting sent back to Tonga?
Yeah, he went back to live with his uncle.
You're a household name now, but you don't do any of the celebrity things. Do you hate the baggage that becomes with being a celebrity?
When I go out anywhere, I get constantly photographed by people. There are a lot of good things about being a celebrity, as I get invited to a lot of places and people in the street call out nice things. I went out the other night and spent the whole night, posing for photo after photo. As soon as word got around, there's literally a line of people queuing. At the end of the night, I had lost my voice and a girl wanted a shot. I said, "Do you mind if we don't, I'm feeling sick and it's really late." She got so p---ed off and the next day she got on Twitter and Facebook and said, "Chris Lilley is such a prick." It was one girl out of about 80. Overall, people are good, though.
Has fame helped you with the ladies?
That helps, yes. I'm not the sort of person who randomly talks to people, so I get a lot of ladies coming up to me and talking.
We love Gran's "gotchas", the practical jokes she performs on inmates. Is Gran supposed to bat for the other side?
It's certainly open to interpretation and I like the idea that people can work it out for themselves. She and Penny are very close and live together.
Blake Oakfield and the Mucca Mad Boys are very similar to the Bra Boys. Did you draw inspiration from the Bra Boys movie?
It's kind of meant to be a combination of the Bra Boys and other surfing documentaries. I hung out with surfers who are Blake's age at Byron Bay and got them to tell me stories about back in the day. I wanted Mucca Mad Boys to be a territorial thing that gangs have. Blake is all talk, he's not as tough as he thinks he is and is a bit of a pushover. He's also a legendary guy as a former world champion surfer and having losing his balls and being in a gang, I think it's a nice funny metaphor for manhood.
Sexy bikini pics of Angry Boys babe
After watching the first five episodes, there are some serious issues that affect the characters. Is your intention to show the world it's just not beer and skittles for these characters?
Yeah, well the mocumentary allows us to jump into their world and we see that they have got issues going on. S.Mouse has an artificial personality and is just so sensitive to everything. Then there's Blake's post-fame and family issues and poor Tim with his mum and the whole gay facade. Gran takes us to some dark places and things go sour towards the end.
Andrew Denton said, "If the Logies are being handed out for originality and talent then the Gold Logie should go to Chris Lilley." Do you agree?
That's really nice, but I think lots of people are doing original stuff. I don't need a Logie, I'm fine. I don't get into, "You're the best, and you're the winner." My motivation is to create stuff and make people laugh. The Logies are a weird thing, as they're making sport out of entertainment. I've been nominated several times and people will say to me afterwards, "You've been robbed — it should have been you." It's like, I don't really care.
Saxon Cheng
Your say: What's your favourite moment from Angry Boys so far?
Angry Boys is on the ABC every Wednesday, 9pm.
