Chris Lilley on 'Angry Boys' and beyond

Chris Lilley's Angry Boys finally aired in the UK last night, so you're probably already falling in love with his latest devilish comedy creations Gran, S.Mouse and co. We caught up with the Aussie comic genius at the start of the week to find out why we had to wait so long for the Summer Heights High follow-up, whether he would consider a move into movies and if there's any chance of Mr G, Jonah and Ja'mie making a comeback.

There has been a huge amount of anticipation for Angry Boys. Were you aware of that when you were writing it?
"The UK thing has really taken me by surprise. I didn't really have an idea on how it had been received over there just because I'm not there. I guess that I knew in Australia Summer Heights High had been quite big so people were expecting something, but it's been quite a big show and taken a long while to make, so I think people had moved on and forgotten about me by the time it came out. I think it took everyone by surprise again."

You are a big deal in Australia though. Do you mind the extra attention that being a TV star brings?
"I like my status in the UK a bit more, where it's a cult, underground thing, or at least that's my understanding of it. In Australia I'm built up as this comedy hero, which was never my intention. I've always liked the idea of doing shows for the people that get it. But Australia has put me up on this big mainstream pedestal type thing. It's a little harder to play along with that. The UK, I'm much more excited about."

Was it deliberate that you left such a big gap between Summer Heights High and Angry Boys?
"No, I've just been going none stop. I finished Summer Heights High and I just started writing. That's what I do, all I have done since then is work on this show. It's not like a normal show. I write it all myself and it takes a long while because of the nature of how I like to shoot shows. I like to take a lot of footage so it has that documentary feel. Then I've been editing the show for about a year. It's not like a normal comedy series where you can work with a team of people, writers and editors working while you're shooting. It's all slowed down a bit by the fact that I like to be in charge of all those processes. It doesn't seem that long to me. It's just been non-stop."

Is a lot of the comedy improvised then rather than scripted?
"It's funny because there is a very tight script and it is written like a documentary. So every little cut is there and what you see on screen is what was on the page. All the dialogue is there. But when we come to do the scenes, I do like to open it up a bit and see what happens. Especially working with actors that are not experienced. It's about creating that reality. The scenes with Gran and the boys in prison, I just wanted those to expand and play out. I was just doing this little bit for a DVD just now and there's a bit where Gran comes to talk to the boys and I've just cut it for about 10 to 15 minutes. I'm just talking about activities around the prison, none of it is scripted and I just wanted the boys to interact and get to know Gran more. I just thought an interesting moment might come out of it and I think I used a tiny little bit in the actual show. I go to a lot of trouble for those little moments that are believably real and they aren't set lines."

Where did you find the boys for the prison scenes?
"We found them from all over the place. We did a bit of research into juvenile prisons in Australia and I wanted it to look really accurate. There are a lot of aborigine kids and Pacific Islander kids, so I didn't want to just go to a casting agent and say 'give me your rough looking white kids'. I thought we had to see the real thing. So we found a lot of them in country towns and most of them weren't interested in acting. Some of them even got the roles and then said that they didn't want to do it because it wasn't their thing. But we found some interesting people like Marlon, the smart-assed kid with the yellow hat. He's just from a small town and the boy who plays the dog w**ker is just a young aborigine kid - no interest in acting, they just thought it was cool that they would miss out on school. It's a very weird environment to put yourself in with me going around in drag and all these kids everywhere, but I kind of like that and I think it works. It's kind of confronting on screen."

Gran's definitely my favourite character of the bunch...
"I'm bracing myself for everyone to turn on me. She takes a quite dramatic turn and becomes less funny and more dark. There's a darker storyline going on with her as it progresses, which I love, I love that stuff, but people do get mad with me when I mess with them too much."

Has the show caused lots of controversy in Australia or is that just the press overblowing things?
"I think it's mostly the papers. It's quite a popular show and most people have watched a few episodes, so it works for them to put me on the cover with a controversial headline. Then you read it and there's no substance to the article, which is a shame because I think it puts people off. I think after doing a few shows now, people are ready to put me down. I think it's so clear where the joke lies. It's a very easy show to pull out a few lines from and take it out of context. 'Oh he said negro, oh he said this'. But at the same time, there's a voiceover saying 'Gran is old fashioned and politically incorrect'. I think the press have to have an angle on someone and the boring angle they have on me is that I'm this crazy, reclusive person who is media shy and makes these shows that are really shocking and controversial. They always pull that one out on me. Even though I'm totally not media shy and do interviews all the time and go to events and totally play along and actually enjoy talking to journalists most of the time. But I don't have to worry about that in Britain. It feels safe being the culty thing and I like that a lot more."

Were ABC in Australia and HBO in the US at all concerned about what you were writing?
"They read a really detailed outline of everything that I was going to do, but I didn't really get any feedback other than, 'yeah, we love it'. I think that they probably know that's what going to happen. In Australia it's on ABC which is our government network, which means that they have to answer to the people a lot more. But we're really lucky that they exist because I don't think anyone else would give me a chance and let me get away with the things. And HBO has been really good as well. They know what they're paying for and that it will upset some people, but a lot of people enjoy the more confronting and challenging type stuff."

Do you think the show is controversial?
"I find myself saying this stuff, but when I watch it back I don't find it anyway near as confronting as people tell me it is. I find myself believing everything that journalists tell me. There are a few rude words and stuff, but it's kind of like real life to me."

I always think there's more warmth to your shows than people give credit for...
"I'm glad you say that. I'd say there was a warmth to the characters as well. But it always get interpreted as dark and not funny. They say 'he's going down a dark, depressing road'. But it's just because there are not traditional jokes. It was never meant to be like that, it's supposed to be something more interesting. It's 12 episodes and you have to really invest in that. If you have to invest in a journey for that long, I think it's nice when you feel more for the characters. That's what drives me to make the worlds so real. I find that an interesting set up for these characters and I think that's why the fake documentary thing works because you actually believe that someone like Gran could really exist in this prison."

Do you think 'sneaky nuts' is going to catch on in the way 'Ranga' did with Summer Heights High?
"That's from the opening of episode eight, it was supposed to just be a little irrelevant thing, and then when Comic Relief asked for a clip, I just thought that would be a good one. Of course it's now gone on YouTube and got lots of people talking. There are now people sending me there own sneaky nuts photos and it's the whole underground thing. I think when it actually airs in Australia it will be interesting to see what happens. But you can never tell what will happen. The 'Ranga' thing for me, well Jonah only says it once or twice in the show, but everyone picked up on it."

The Sims twins reveal 'Sneaky Nuts':



Do you have any plans to move into movies?
"When I wrote We Can Be Heroes, I was just so excited about the concept of playing loads of characters and a television series allows you to do that. It's also an event that you tune in for each week and people talk about where it's heading. This show is so huge, it's 12 episodes, it's like writing 3 or 4 films. It's so massive. It's more that I'm more excited about TV than me not being interested by film. I know film has that prestige and everyone says, 'you should do a film next'. I just think so many more people see television. A popular TV show is seen by so many more people than a film. Ultimately, you make something to reach people. But maybe one day I'll do a movie. The problem is that I've written things in episodes for so long. It would be an interesting challenge."

Have you any ideas for new shows knocking around?
"I've thought about lots of ideas, but the going to air thing is quite a big deal. I'm cutting the DVD at the moment and I'm thinking about doing some live shows with S.Mouse. I'm still caught up in all that. But, I do have ideas for new things. I'm always writing things down, but often at the end of the whole going to air process, I often feel differently about where I want to go and what I want to do. I probably need to take a breath."

Will you ever bring back Mr G, Jonah or Ja'mie?
"I love bringing the characters back. Ja'mie was in two shows, Mr G was in something called the Big Bite as well. I love bringing characters back. But I mean, when I did Summer Heights High everyone was saying, 'you'd be mad to not bring Ricky Wong back' and they wanted everyone from We Can Be Heroes in it. So a lot of a people were disappointed with Summer Heights High. Someone is always missing out. But bringing characters back is exciting for me. No time passes for these characters, so it's fun to think of them being on pause and that they could come back at any time. I really love those characters so it would be cool to bring them back."

Angry Boys continues next Tuesday at 10.30pm on BBC Three. Read more about the show at facebook.com/angryboysuk.