Chris Lilley (comedian)

Christopher Daniel Lilley (born 10 November 1974) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, director, and producer. He is known for his creation and portrayal of several fictional characters in the mockumentary television series '' We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year'' (2005), ''Summer Heights High'' (2007), ''Angry Boys'' (2011), '' Ja'mie: Private School Girl'' (2013), ''Jonah from Tonga'' (2014), and the web series ''Lunatics'' (2019). He is a two-time winner of the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor.

Early life

Lilley was born in Turramurra, on Sydney's Upper North Shore, and was the youngest of four siblings. He was raised in Turramurra and attended Pymble Public School. He later studied at Barker College, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Contemporary Music) with a Diploma of Education from Macquarie University in Sydney, when he graduated in 1997.

He began his career in his twenties as a stand-up comedian while also working as a childcare worker at Turramurra North Public School and a shop assistant.

Career

In 2003, Lilley made his debut in ''Big Bite'', a Seven Network comedy programme, in which he portrayed extreme sports enthusiast Extreme Darren and the high-school drama teacher Mr G, a character that he continued in ''Summer Heights High''. ''Big Bite'' was nominated for Best Television Comedy Series at the 2003 Australian Film Institute Awards, marking the first time a comedy programme from a commercial television network had ever been nominated at the Australian Film Institute Awards. It did not win. The producers co-credited Lilley; however, the show lasted only one series before being spun off into a comedy/variety programme. Lilley was a recurring guest on the programme, but it was cancelled after only a few episodes.

Lilley appeared in the film satire '' Ned'', based on the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. He appeared as the "MSN Butterfly" in a series of television advertisements and Cinema for MSN. He has also appeared on the ''Hamish & Andy'' radio show.

In 2015, Lilley was the main actor for The Stafford Brothers, Rick Ross and Jay Sean's " When You Feel This" music video.

''We Can Be Heroes''

After the cancellation of ''Big Bite'', Lilley created '' We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year'', a six-part series on the ABC, in which he portrayed various characters nominated for the Australian of the Year Award. The series was co-written with Ryan Shelton.

Lilley portrayed several characters in the series: Phil Olivetti, a self-obsessed police officer; Ricky Wong, a Chinese Australian university physics student from Melbourne; Pat Mullins, a 47-year-old housewife with a dream to roll on her side from Perth, Western Australia to Uluru, Northern Territory; Daniel Sims, a teenage boy who donates an eardrum to his deaf twin brother, Nathan (both Daniel and Nathan later appeared in "Angry Boys"); and Ja'mie King, a narcissistic girl attending a private high school in Sydney (Ja'mie later appeared in "Summer Heights High" and "Ja'mie: Private School Girl").

Lilley was nominated for Best Comedy Series and Best Lead Actor in Television at the 2006 Australian Film Institute Awards, and won the Best New Talent and Most Outstanding Comedy Program awards at the Logie Awards of 2006. He also received a Rose d'Or award in Switzerland for Best Male Comedy Performance. Following the series' success, it was sold to other countries under the new name ''The Nominees''.

''Summer Heights High''

Lilley's second mockumentary series, ''Summer Heights High'', aired on ABC TV in 2007.

In the series, Lilley played the series' three main characters at a public school: Ja'mie King, Mr G and Jonah Takalua. In March 2008, Lilley released a single, " Naughty Girl", based on the series, and performed in character as drama teacher Mr G.

At the 2008 Logie Awards he was nominated for four awards including Most Outstanding Actor and Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Television, and won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor and the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program.

The series was sold to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Lilley embarked on a promotional tour of the United States in October 2008 to promote the U.S. broadcast of the series, which began airing on HBO on 9 November 2008. The BBC
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