Chris Lilley (comedian) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chris Lilley
Lilley at the 2014 ARIA Music Awards in Sydney
Birth name	Christopher Daniel Lilley
Born	(1974-11-10) 10 November 1974 (age 50) Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia
Medium	Television music podcast
Education	Barker College Macquarie University
Genres	Mockumentary sitcom character comedy

Christopher Daniel Lilley (born 10 November 1974) is an Australian actor and comedian. He is famous for creating and playing many different characters in his TV shows. These shows are like fake documentaries, called mockumentaries. Some of his popular series include We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year (2005), Summer Heights High (2007), and Angry Boys (2011). He has won the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor twice.

Chris Lilley's Career

Lilley in 2009

Chris Lilley started his career in his twenties as a stand-up comedian. He also worked with children and in a shop. In 2003, Lilley first appeared on TV in a comedy show called Big Bite. In this show, he played characters like Extreme Darren and a high school drama teacher named Mr G. Mr G later became a main character in Summer Heights High.

Big Bite was nominated for an award, which was a big deal for a comedy show from a commercial TV channel. The show only lasted one season. Lilley also appeared in a film called Ned, which was a funny movie about the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. He was also in TV ads for MSN and on the Hamish & Andy radio show. In 2015, Lilley was the main actor in a music video for "When You Feel This" by The Stafford Brothers, Rick Ross, and Jay Sean.

We Can Be Heroes TV Show

After Big Bite, Lilley created We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year. This was a six-part series on the ABC. In this show, he played different people who were nominated for the Australian of the Year award.

Lilley played several characters in the series. These included Phil Olivetti, a police officer who loved himself, and Ricky Wong, a university physics student. He also played Pat Mullins, a housewife who wanted to roll from Perth to Uluru. Two other characters were Daniel Sims, a teenager who helped his deaf twin brother, Nathan, and Ja'mie King. Ja'mie was a self-centered girl from a private high school. Daniel, Nathan, and Ja'mie later appeared in other shows.

Lilley won awards for We Can Be Heroes, including Best New Talent and Most Outstanding Comedy Program at the Logie Awards of 2006. He also won an award in Switzerland for Best Male Comedy Performance. The show was very successful and was sold to other countries under the name The Nominees.

Summer Heights High TV Show

Lilley's next mockumentary series was Summer Heights High, which aired in 2007. In this show, Lilley played three main characters at a public school. These characters were Ja'mie King, Mr G, and Jonah Takalua. In 2008, Lilley released a song called "Naughty Girl". He performed this song as his character, Mr G.

At the 2008 Logie Awards, Lilley won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor. He also won the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program. The series became popular in other countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Lilley traveled to the U.S. to promote the show when it started airing there.

People often asked if there would be a second season of Summer Heights High. Lilley said he didn't want to make another season just for money if it wasn't as good as the first. He enjoyed making the show and thought about writing more, but he didn't decide to do another season.

Angry Boys TV Show

Lilley in 2012

Angry Boys was Lilley's third mockumentary series. It aired in Australia in 2011 and later in the UK and US. This 12-part comedy series featured six very different new characters, all played by Lilley. The show introduced S.mouse!, a US rapper, and Jen Okazaki, a Japanese mother. Other characters included Blake Oakfield, a champion surfer, and Ruth "Gran" Sims, a guard at a youth detention center. Her grandchildren, twins Daniel and Nathan Sims, also appeared. Daniel and Nathan had first appeared in We Can Be Heroes.

Lilley won an award in 2012 for Best Comedy Performance in Television for Angry Boys.

Ja'mie: Private School Girl TV Show

Ja'mie: Private School Girl aired in 2013. It was a six-part comedy series. This show was made by Princess Pictures and Chris Lilley, working with the ABC in Australia and HBO in the US. It was also sold to BBC Three in the UK.

In September 2013, Lilley announced that the show would bring back Ja'mie King. Ja'mie was a popular character from We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High. Lilley won the 2014 Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor for his acting in Ja'mie: Private School Girl.

Jonah from Tonga TV Show

In November 2013, Lilley confirmed he would bring back Jonah Takalua for a new show in 2014, called Jonah From Tonga. Jonah was first seen in Lilley's 2007 series Summer Heights High. At the end of that show, Jonah was kicked out of Summer Heights High School. In the new series, his father sent him back to his home country of Tonga. He went to live with his uncle and family to get his life back on track.

The six-part series was made by Princess Pictures and Chris Lilley with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The show was first available online in Australia and the UK. It then aired on TV in Australia and the UK. In New Zealand, Māori Television showed the first episode but later decided not to show the rest.

Lunatics TV Show

In 2018, it was announced that Lilley would create a 10-part series for Netflix. The show is called Lunatics. It features a group of unusual characters with different talents or quirks. Lilley stars in the show, playing all the main roles. Lunatics was released on Netflix in April 2019.

Lunatics includes characters like Keith Dick, a fashion retailer, and Quentin Cook, an estate agent. It also features Becky Douglas, a 7-foot college student, and Gavin McGregor, a 12-year-old who will inherit a noble title. Another character is Jana Melhoopen-Jonks, a South African celebrity pet psychic. Lilley even worked with The Jonas Brothers and Paris Hilton using his Lunatics characters.

Personal Life

Chris Lilley has been a vegetarian since he was five years old.

Filmography

Selected Music

Albums

Singles

Podcasts

• Ja'miezing (2021) (as Ja'mie King)
• Jana's Yard (2020) (as Jana Melhoopen-Jonks)

Awards and Nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are yearly awards given by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). They celebrate great music in Australia and started in 1987.