Chris Lilley » Articles

Hitting His Heights
The Weekend Australian magazine | December 15, 2007

His characters have entered the popular culture but Summer Heights High's Chris Lilley is a reluctant celebrity, writes Corrie Perkin.

I went down there with my girlfriend … and all of a sudden we were mobbed. It felt very surreal. They (the teenagers) were really nice and stuff, but it was a weird experience."

That harbourside frenzy was just the beginning of an amazing year for Chris Lilley, creator of the hit TV series Summer Heights High. Although the 32-year-old writer and actor's 2005 series We Can be Heroes nabbed him a clutch of loyal fans and a Logie, this year's Summer Heights High has catapulted Lilley into a new realm of public recognition.

It is not a role he particularly enjoys - although as someone whose creative inspiration comes from what he observes in other people, you suspect the (albeit rare) public outings to visit ABC shops and sign DVDs may provide some interesting insights.

There is a media-fuelled perception that Lilley - the man who created the outrageously snobby year 11 student Ja'mie, the ambitious drama teacher Mr G, and the agitated 13-year-old schoolboy Jonah - is shy, quiet and uncomfortable in the spotlight. Certainly, celebrity sits awkwardly with him - he is very protective of his private life, and his characters. "People might think that they'd like to see Jonah dancing around on his back at the ARIAs but that's not him," Lilley says. "I'm not doing it to be a celebrity, or to make him a celebrity."

He is great company, however. We have borrowed the principal's office at the Melbourne school where Summer Heights High was filmed, and immediately get on to the topic of the show. Lilley is expansive and funny. Finely built and with extraordinarily bright, hazel-green eyes, he does not look and sound like any of his characters, so when he talks about them as real people you quickly fall into the habit, too.

Lilley grew up in Sydney, the youngest of four children. His father died several years ago and he remains close to his mum, even though he has lived in Melbourne for the past four years. As a small child he attended a government primary school; later he went to a private school.

"Okay, it had moments of being good," he recalls. "Sometimes I got in trouble for doing my own thing - I wasn't that interested in doing what they expected me to do.

"My mum brought that up the other day, actually - how she'd get a call from the school to say I'd gone missing. Most of the time I hadn't gone missing, I'd be in the music room writing opera or something."

Why did he choose a school setting for his mockumentary and not, say, an office, or a hospital? "It's the idea of the mini-universe," he says. "And it's just such an important time in everyone's lives. A lot of things happen in people's lives, you move on. But school stays with you forever."

Lilley's satire is remarkable in its accuracy. During Summer Heights High's eight-week run, teachers and schoolkids in particular noted his precision in the words, phrases, nuances, backdrops and props. Even down to the coffee-cup politics of the teacher staff room, no subject was safe as the characters blasted and bitched their way around the school campus.

Lilley is also a remarkable actor who invests great energy in performing the words he writes. During filming he dissects, analyses and expands (often ad-libbing to camera) as he goes along, in order to make his characters seem real.

Clive James's description of actor and comedian W.C. Fields as able to "write wordless physical comedy the way he wrote words: with unequalled compactness and suggestiveness" could equally apply to Lilley. He makes an art form of the cold stare, the rolled eyes, the flick of Ja'mie's hair. When Jonah is mucking around with his mates, his body language is easy and relaxed; in the classroom, or when he's confronted by a teacher, it stiffens and he moves more self-consciously.

It is quite possible that, in the near future, universities will offer media studies courses dedicated to exploring Lilley's comedy technique. For now, though, the creator is happy to say his main objective is to make people laugh.

"Right now I'm thinking about what to do next, and when I do, I'm not thinking, 'What can I do that will change popular culture?' or, 'What can I do that might change kids' take on things forever?' It's more like I'm thinking, 'What's a really funny moment that people will like? And how can I have that same sort of fun again?'"

Summer Heights High producer Laura Waters agrees. "We care deeply about the characters, and we try to stay true to them. But the main thing both Chris and I want to do is to make people laugh. Everything else people get from the series is a massive bonus."

Waters has been asked many times to describe Lilley. "I always answer by saying he's gifted. I feel like he was born with - and given - these amazing gifts. I don't try to work them out too carefully. I don't think he does, either … It's not manufactured, that's just who he is."

Lilley has no specific plans for his next project, although new characters are already having conversations in his head. "People come up on the street with new ideas for new shows, and it's nice that they're into it," he says. "My mum is the worst. She gives me long lists for options for a new show, and that didn't happen so much after the last show. Now people are really on to it.

"I think I'm driving everyone crazy … But yeah, it's a bit scary - because this show has been so big, maybe there will be a fall next time."

He is, however, determined to resist any temptation to revisit this year's successful format. "It would seem obvious to say, 'Let's go and do another Summer Heights High, let's produce something that's exactly the same, that we know people will watch, and make money.' But none of us is really saying that, which is great."

Lilley is not one of those actor-comedians who jumps in and out of character while being interviewed. He talks about wanting to protect the characters, so even falling into Ja'ime-speak for the sake of a funny line doesn't cut it for him. "I'm really careful to make sure they don't become celebrities," he says. "I think I did kind of make that mistake with Ja'mie. She did the ARIAs and a couple of things like that after We Can be Heroes, and it wasn't right for her."

The fan thing continues to intrigue him, however. "I couldn't believe that in the ABC Shop, the staff were wearing 'Puck you, Miss' T-shirts," he says of a recent promotional visit to Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne. While Lilley spent almost two hours signing DVDs of the series, Mr G's dog, Celine (not her real name - the Chihuahua is actually a male dog called Plugger) also got a big share of the attention.

"Celine turned up at Chadstone and was a massive hit. I have some funny photos of her being surrounded by adoring fans. People were even lining up to have their photo taken with her. It was a very surreal moment."

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